Mobile Suit Gundam SEED ODYSSEY
by Wing Zero Alpha
Summary: In the year CE 101, approximately 30 years after the First Bloody Valentine War, a young woman embarks on a journey through the ravaged and chaotic Earth that was left behind. This is the story of her odyssey. Original story.
1. Prologue

_Thirty years ago, there was a war. Yes, as long as humans had existed, wars had come and gone with the ages, but this one seemed to differ from others before it. This war set a course for humans, being the first war to be fought between Earth and outer space. It all started on that day in February, the day that was called "Valentine's Day". I myself was born several years after the event, but I am still marveled by it nonetheless. That day was reputed for starting as any normal day, with people living their lives as they always did, and life generally being tranquil. But then it happened during that night: a great flash that lit up the dark sky like the birth of a second sun. A light that simultaneously captured the attention of every human being around the planet. A light that forever marked the change of an era. _

_Since that great flash, nothing had ever been the same since. The once tranquil days that were enjoyed by the humans on this planet had ended, as the conflict between the two nations of Earth and Space had finally broken into a violent struggle. The sound of explosions and gunfire, as well as the sights of blood and destruction seemed to have become normality when watching the news. There wasn't a day where images of mobile suits marching down a destroyed city, soldiers firing at an unseen target with their machineguns or some form of fighting wasn't shown to the public. The war engulfed all humans, no matter what nationality or race. Even the neutral nations were affected in some way. Nobody officially won that war, as it all led up to the nations expending their resources and growing too thin in strength to continue._

_That war came and passed like the ones before it, having been decided at the fortress Jachin Due. Peace soon followed and once again the days had become tranquil. However, the influence of that war did not cease, as like a great and terrible hydra, other wars had risen up where the last had left off. These wars were even more devastating than the last, as more atrocities were committed across the Earth than ever before. Not long after, the original rulers of humanity had been swept away, followed by the tyrants that attempted to rise in their place. Without anyone to lead the planet, everything soon dropped into chaos. And even after the nations had ended up exhausting each other for the second time, the fighting did not end, as it had grown out of the control of politicians and the military like a wild fire. Renegades grew more in number, weapons that had once been in the hands of militaries soon found their way into the hands of rogues and bandits, and things that should not have been forgotten had become lost one way or the other._

_The world had become a far more dangerous place than it had been before._

_There have been times as of late when I look up into the sky once more, searching for the light that shown brightly Thirty years ago among the stars. If it shown again on this devastated planet, what kind of change would it bring with it? Would it bring the peace that had long since past? Or would it throw the world into a deeper chaos? All I know is as I look up at the sky, watching for the briefest sign of light, the world continues on…_

…_but to what?_


	2. Phase 01: The Journey's Prelude

_"If there's one common theme with heroes, it's that they always start off in some rural location, like a farm, a small town or some corner of the Earth that's been forgotten. This is something of a necessity; after all, if the hero started off in a luxurious mansion with a multitude of wealth and servants at his or her beck and call, what would compel this person to want to leave home in the first place?"_  
- George Glenn

**Phase 01: The Journey's Prelude**

**Aizen Nagato's repair shop – Stirling Valley, Western Australia  
April 24th, CE 101**

_The things people do to mobile suits…_

That thought was the only thing on her mind at that point, as she sat in the cockpit of the TFA-2 ZuOOT that had found its way into the repair shop she worked at. She had probably been in the suit for a good hour or so now, still typing away on the keyboard to try and fix the suit's damaged electronics, but she didn't mind that. She was too concentrated on her work to feel any sort of annoyance at this point, which was good, because she would have otherwise hunted down and killed the ZuOOT's pilot for messing up his suit's CPU this badly. _I can't believe that idiot tried to fire the shoulder cannons at these settings. _Her mind practically screamed in sheer amazement. _Forget the insufficient fire control, he was lucky the whole torso wasn't blown off by the recoil!_

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead, which was caused from the lack of air conditioning inside the cockpit, Ryoko Nagato continued working diligently on her latest job. With the skill and finesse of a true typist, her piano player fingers tapped the keys in a constant rhythm, inputting new commands into the mobile suit's computer. The girl didn't feel any strain in her fingers, although she knew she'd have to stop soon so she wouldn't get carpal tunnel syndrome. Her dark sapphire eyes were always darting across the tactical monitor, absorbing the information it displayed like sponges to water. It would be obvious to a passing onlooker that this girl was in her element.

Looking through all the data, she could tell the nearly thirty year old mobile suit had seen many battles in the past. A lot of the mechanics and circuitry were in need of repair or replacing, and it seemed that the battery reactor was only operating at 86 efficiency. Unconsciously, her eyes narrowed, scanning monitor for any sign of a virus that had gotten into the system over the years, or any other defect. When she couldn't find any, she took her hands off the computer momentarily and reached back, cracking her knuckles and neck bones with agonizing force and yawning.

As far as she could tell, the ZuOOT was still a good mobile suit, even with all the history behind it. But to her, the history was what made the suit all the more special. If she had read the combat log correctly, the mobile suit had seen combat even before the beginning of the First War, having been part of a patrol unit stationed at ZAFT's Carpentaria Base, and then moving onto the front lines as a support unit in the Africa theater, where it remained until the third Battle of Victoria. She couldn't find how the mobile suit ended back up in the Western Australian Outback though, but it didn't change its legacy to her. "I'd give just to see at least half of what you saw." Ryoko unconsciously murmured.

"Hey Sheila, you up there?" called a smarmy Australian accented voice from below, snapping the girl back to reality.

Ryoko peered out of the cockpit to see a thuggish looking guy with a blue dyed mohawk standing on the ground, looking up at her through his only functioning eye (the other was blinded). Pushing a few strands of her shoulder length dark brown hair aside, she leveled an annoyed glance. "What do you want now Bradley? I can't fix any of your boss' toys if you keep bothering me." She snapped, pulling back into the cockpit.

"Boss-man wants ya to know his appreciation for fixin' his suit, so he sent me to tell you ta come over to town hall this evenin' to claim your reward." Bradley said, grinning a little to display some of his rotten, cavity covered teeth. "He also say to put on somethin' nice…"

In the cockpit, Ryoko rolled her eyes, not amused. Wasn't the first time Bradley's boss tried to get her out for evening, or in a bed or dark alley way somewhere. "If he's really that thankful, then he can stop harassing me and go do something constructive with his time. Or he can go inseminate a wombat. I don't care which."

Bradley's grin turned into a sneer. "Now, that ain't no way to speak about the boss-man. All he wants is to thank you properly." His tone of voice made it sound more like a warning than an explanation.

"Thank me? That perverted_ namagomi_ just wants my ass, literally!" Ryoko yelled back out.

"Nama-wha?" Bradley asked, very confused.

Ryoko sighed visibly; she shouldn't have expected him to understand what that Japanese phrase meant. "Forget it. Just go away."

"Heh, why not just drop the bitchy attitude, Sheila, and join the rest of us in the livin'? You're no better than the rest of us, 'cept the boss-man has a thing for ya. If I were you, I'd just shut up and take it like a man…" Bradley said.

The mobile suit electronics tech didn't reply to his statement, although a curious cross-shaped vein did become visible on her forehead at the mention of 'take it like a _man_'. Her left eye started twitching too, not a good sign.

"'…not that you have a choice in the matta, Sheila. You know what happens when the boss-man gets upset."

Suddenly, the ZuOOT's cockpit closed, and the sound of its battery powering up filled the room. Moments later, the green mono-eye flashed on and angled so that it glared straight down at Bradley, who quickly jumped. _"And _you _and _he_ know what happens when _I_ get upset."_ Ryoko spoke over the ZuOOT's loud speaker.

"Yeah right joey. You're not that gutsy…" Bradley just began to retort. However, he stopped short when the ZuOOT's right arm swung out and leveled its heavy assault machinegun at the thug. Bradley could only feel what little color begin to drain from his paste white skin; he could swear he saw the mobile suit's trigger finger twitching.

"Ryoko!"

Upon that call, the green mono-eye shifted to the right side of the hangar, as did Bradley's attention. Coming out of the manager's office was an old man, who was ramrod straight despite his age, as well as possessing a sternness that was hard as Phase-Shift armor. Even as he looked straight into the ZuOOT's mono-eye camera and the young woman on the other end with his furrowed brown eyes, his gaze was absolute.

"Ojii-sama, _I…_" Ryoko stammered softly over the speaker.

The old man looked over from the mobile suit to its agitator, and gave a questioning look. "Tell me, what is the meaning of this?"

Bradley, still a little shaken from Ryoko's little stint, quickly regained enough of his composure and threw his arm in a jabbing motion toward the ZuOOT. "I came here just to pass my boss-man's gratee… grateta…"

"Gratitude?" the old man arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah! Grat-e-tude for your grandkid's fixin' his mobile suit, and she tries to shoot my ass off with a machinegun!" Bradley roared, sounding as vengeful as his accent allowed him. Didn't faze the old man though. "If you know what's good for ya and ya grand kid, Ol' Man, ya better keep a fuckin' leash on her, or the boss-man will have this place burned and you and ya granddaughter on the barby!"

With a simple nod and a sigh, Aizen "Old Man" Nagato pretended to take all this in. In reality though, he knew the leader of Bradley's gang wouldn't burn down the repair shop, much less kill him and Ryoko, because there was no one else in town who could maintain the mobile suits they used. However, if it meant keeping the peace, or what little of it he could with Ryoko, Aizen went along with it. "I see. I apologize for my granddaughter's actions, and she accepts your boss' thanks."

"_What!? _Ojii-sama_, you can't be…!"_ Ryoko started to speak over the loudspeaker again.

"That's enough, Ryoko!" Aizen snapped, his patience thinning. His granddaughter said no more, thankfully.

"Good that ya understand Ol' Man." Bradley smiled an ugly crooked smile. "The boss-man also wants your grandkid to accept his gratitude from him personally, at the…"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that Mr. Bradley. We are still overhauling that very troublesome GINN over there…" Aizen gestured toward a TMF/S-3 GINN OCHER Type in the back corner of the shop. "… and I will be needing Ryoko's knowledge on electronics later tonight. I trust your leader will understand."

Bradley took a look over toward the GINN, and then turned and nodded. "A'right, but the boss-man's not gonna be too happy about it. Just a fair warnin'."

"Your warning is appreciated." Aizen replied mildly.

"Good. I'll be leavin' ya folks to ya business now."

With that said and done, Bradley quickly turned around and waltzed right out the door. As soon as he left, the ZuOOT powered down again and Ryoko fully emerged from the mobile suit's cockpit. She then made her way across the mobile suit's leg and leapt down to ground level. Aizen had walked the distance during that time, moving up to meet his granddaughter while shaking his head. "Ryoko, Ryoko… What am I going to do with you? If you keep acting that way towards men, you will never find a husband."

Even though Ryoko knew her grandfather was joking, she was still agitated. "What are you going to do with me? I can say the same about you, _ojii-sama_! You practically bent down and kissed his grime covered hand! Why do you do that with these people?"

Again, Aizen sighed as if in disappointment. "We've gone over this before Ryoko. As much as I dislike it, they are the ones in charge of management at the moment…"

"You mean they're herding us like cattle!"

"…Not quite what I was thinking, but yes, that is accurate." Aizen said plainly. "However, it's not worth the struggle. It maybe humiliating to the prideful, like yourself my little Ryoko, but the best thing to do now is to just go with whatever they tell us to do."

"And what happens when their leader decides you'd be better as a diamond miner?" Ryoko asked challengingly, although she hated that thought. "Or better yet, what happens if they decide to gang up on me and force me into a room with lots of locks and deadbolts on the door?"

"They won't do any of that as long as we keep fixing their mobile suits. You know that." Aizen stated. As he was talking, he turned to walk back to the manager's office, Ryoko following close. "Besides, with the way you scare away men, I don't think they would do that to you. It would be too much of a hassle for them." The scary thing was Aizen was speaking seriously with that last comment, even if it was off-handed.

Ryoko wasn't sure how to react to that comment, so she just let it drop. "Well, either way, they won't stay here forever. Once the mine dries up, I don't think they'll just leave town without killing all of us, you and I included."

"Really?" Aizen asked as they finally reached the office door. He turned to her with a look of curiosity. "Assuming this will be our fate, what can you do to prevent it?"

The young girl simply gestured to another part of the hangar. There, in the very back, stood a powered down mobile suit against the wall. It was a dull gray, colorless suit that had been occupying that space for sometime now. The strange thing was, compared to the rest of the mobile suits that occupied the repair shop, this one was probably the most uniquely designed and intimidating, despite its lack of colors. It was also the only Earth built mobile suit in the hangar; the rest were all vintage ZAFT mobile suits, left over from wars past.

Aizen eyed the mobile suit, and then shook his head. "That suit is a wild and lazy horse Ryoko, one that even you can't tame. I've kept it here because of your insistence, but even I'm losing my patience over it."

"I can fix it, _ojii-sama_. I just need to get the operating system back together and it will be our meal ticket out of here!" Ryoko stated.

"I recall you saying something similar three months ago, and yet even now you can barely get anything to work." Aizen said.

The look on Ryoko's face was a mix between disappointment, depression and humiliation. "Don't remind me." she said. "But you do know me and electronics; it's only a matter of time before I find a weakness…"

At that point, Aizen had turned away and opened the door, but he didn't step in. "Out of curiosity, my dear granddaughter, if you did get that mobile suit to work, where would you go? Stirling Valley has been our home for thirteen years, and we have nothing beyond that desert."

Although she was irritable, Ryoko rarely felt as angry as she was becoming now. Had Aizen been any other man, there was no doubt in her mind she would have smashed his cheek in. "This!?" Ryoko waved her hand around the dank and run down hangar. "We may have been here for thirteen years, but this is not our home! You know that too, otherwise you would have no trouble telling me where we came from!"

The old man didn't seem to react to that, although there was something beneath the surface. Of all the touchy subjects that were between him and Ryoko, this one was the most difficult to manage. For whatever reason, Aizen had long refused to tell Ryoko of her past and the land that they had come from, and as such Ryoko had grown up without any knowledge of her origins. The only thing she did know from her past was bits and pieces about her parents, although Aizen rarely told her anything about them.

Another sigh, this one much smaller, had escaped from Aizen's lips at those words. One of the reasons he refused to tell Ryoko anything about her past was so she would grow to accept the land around her, but the ignorance and the time that past only made her more demanding to know.

Tears threatened to well up in Ryoko's eyes, but she held them back. "We are not going to die here…" she practically screamed. "_Ojii-sama_!!"

There was a small moment of silence after that, as Aizen did not react at first. But then. "I stand by my words. This nothing out there for you Ryoko. You should learn to accept this where you are now, dear granddaughter." not even the harsh Outback could quell the cold winter in those words.

As those words sunk in, Ryoko's rage had reached her peak, and she only felt disgust as she looked at her grandfather's back. She uttered no more words after that. As she did was turn away and storm out of the shop with the calmness and composure of a tornado, slamming the door on the way out.

Aizen stood there for a few more minutes, even as the silence and calm soon returned to the shop's interior. After some time, he himself returned to the manager's officer and closed the door…

* * *

**Northwestern outskirts of Stirling Valley, Western Australia**

Feeling mixture between anger and sorrow, Ryoko couldn't help but kick aside an empty metal garbage can as she left the mobile suit repair shop. If there had been any people around the shop, they would have made it their business to avoid the young technician when she was like this, for her tantrums were infamous throughout the town. A desert thunderstorm that broke the otherwise tranquil setting of Stirling Valley.

The young woman herself didn't care what the townspeople thought of her: she hated them and this town anyway. Stirling Valley was a relatively "new" town when compared to other areas of the Earth; it had been established just after the Cosmic Era took place when some prospector claimed there were diamond fields out in this region. Diamonds, while not as valuable in the current era as they had been in ages past, were still considered precious commodities for their sparkles, and people still wore them as jewelry. This was enough reason for towns like Stirling Valley to exist.

The town was one of those places you'd find as a setting for a horror movie; it was set in the middle of the Western Australian region's wilderness, several kilometers away from the nearest highway, and thus was well isolated from the rest of the continent. The isolation essentially turned it into a sleepy mining town, with almost everything centered on the diamond mine that the town had been built around, and almost everyone was a miner. The population was in the lower hundreds, most of them were descendents of the people that originally settled here, thus were born into the mining life, while others were trying to get as far away from civilization as possible. And as far as technology went, the town possessed functioning computers, and automated mining equipment was used in the diamond mine, but other than those, it was in all ways separated from the rest of the world.

And that isolation was exactly why the town was in the condition it was now. As she walked, Ryoko looked up at the air to see an old ZGMF-1017 GINN standing in the middle of the street, unmoving aside from its mono-eye shifting in different directions. Further down was a TMF/A-802 BuCUE in its tank mode, looking even less active than the GINN but still intimidating. And if Ryoko chose to look toward the diamond mine, she would have seen four more mobile suits playing guard duty, with others spread out across the town.

Some years back, a group of raiders had come in from the desert and had taken over management of the entire town. And by 'taken over management' meant came in with their mobile suits, destroyed a few buildings including the local sheriff office, and then proclaimed themselves to be the town's new owners. Since then, life had been especially hard for the townsfolk, Ryoko and her grandfather included, as the raiders had pretty much enslaved the population into mining diamonds for them while holding the town hostage with their mobile suits. The only reason Ryoko and grandfather weren't in the mine was, as mentioned before, because their captors needed their mobile suits maintained.

Things had only gotten worse over the years, as the captors grew bolder. Living conditions over time grew poorer, as most of the town's resources had gone into the raiders' use. Rape and murder had become common place, with a new body popping up somewhere every few days. In fact, no less than three days ago, a corpse of a girl about Ryoko's age had been found behind an alleyway, stripped naked and brutalized, and from closer observation it was clear there had been more than one aggressor. Nobody talked about this though; a few people gave the girl a small funeral, but the rest just concentrated on their own daily lifestyle.

Ryoko could feel herself sneering at that memory, and the reason why she hated every living thing in this town besides her grandfather. She could understand their doing what their captors told them; in fact she would call anyone that made a stand against them a fool since the scum had the guns and mobile suits. However, the thing that made her despise the townsfolk was that there was no anger on their end. There was no hatred toward the renegades for taking over the town, no desires for vengeance for the people they killed and dishonored, not so much as irritation for their arrogance. The townsfolk actually didn't care that they had been enslaved, that the gang was feeding off of them and the town. All they cared about was doing their jobs to make ends meet, while treating their captors like members of the community.

Just the thought of this made Ryoko's blood boil, and this time she stomped on the garbage can she kicked over. Although it was a metal can, it easily crumpled underneath her boot heal. She stomped it further until the can was flattened entirely, but even that didn't quell her anger. In all honesty she really did feel like breaking down and cursing the world and humanity, but she didn't want the people around her to benefit from the sight, so she just remained standing.

The wind was picking up now as the afternoon started to turn to the evening, enough that it made her treasured black biker jacket flicker on and off. Other than the jacket, she wore a plain white t-shirt, a pair of jeans with a black belt wrapped around and a pair of black leather boots, giving her a kind of biker girl image to those around her. This often made people dismiss her as a rebel or an outcast, but she liked it that way; the thought of not being considered one of _them_ always comforted her.

_Sometime from now, it won't matter anymore._ Ryoko thought, feeling herself warm up again. _As soon as I get _my_ mobile suit to work, then _Ojii-sama _and I can get away from this wasteland and not look back._

Now that she thought about it, that particular object was probably the only thing that kept Ryoko from running from the town altogether, besides her grandfather's insistence and her better judgment. Yes she had friends growing up, but they had either died over time or they had grown to disdain her for her rebelliousness. That mobile suit however, had been the object of much of her attention; Ryoko had pretty much fallen in love with it, even if it was a 'wild and lazy horse' as her grandfather put it. The thought of leaving it in the hands of scum was repulsing to her. So in spite of her inability to get the MS to work properly, she still considered it her own, and continued to harbor the hope that she would get it to work again.

A small flash of light interrupted her thoughts, making her turn her attention toward the edge of the town and the dirt road beyond it. _What in the world?_ she thought with curiosity. Unless she was hallucinating, she thought she saw a pick up truck driving toward the town, fast enough that it was leaving a large dust cloud behind it. Ryoko couldn't remember the last time anyone had come into the town willingly or in a regular vehicle rather than one or more mobile suits for that matter. Either the driver wasn't aware of Stirling's occupational status or he had some kind of business here. _And why do I get the feeling it's going to be the latter?_ She ducked around a corner of a building to get out of view.

Noticing the newcomer as well, the GINN close to Ryoko started to move toward the end of the street, causing the ground to rumble around it. When it finally stopped, it had moved just a few meters from Ryoko, leveling its MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machinegun at the truck, ready to blow it out of the road for any given reason. "_You in the fuckin' ute! Stop right there!"_ the pilot warned over the loudspeaker.

Immediately the truck came to a complete stop. _"Now, drive up slowly. Try anythin' stupid and you're dust."_ the pilot commanded, having the mono-eye flash for good intimidation effect.

"As if you could tell." Ryoko muttered toward the mobile suit pilot, although not loud enough that the GINN's audio system would pick it up.

The truck driver did as he was told, inching the pickup along the road until it just entered the town's limits. When the GINN pilot was satisfied, he had his mobile suit hold out its other left hand, the one not holding the autocannon, to signal the truck to stop again. The truck stopped once more, some odd feet away from Ryoko. _"Right. Now out of the ute, hands where I can see them!"_

On that command, both sides of the truck opened, revealing two people: a boy about Ryoko's age that looked very much annoyed and a man who had an unusual grin for being held up.

The boy was in his mid-teens at best, physical features being his spiky white hair, amber colored eyes and a muscular build for someone his age. The most notable thing Ryoko noticed was the tattoo on his arm of a finely detailed blue and black wolf's head with piercing red eyes, similar to a fairy tale monster. Other than that, he wore a sleeveless dark blue shirt, gray cargo pants and combat boots, and an annoyed glare toward the GINN holding him up, showing no traces of fear in the face of the mobile suit's autocannon.

The man, on the other hand, with his shoulder length dark blonde hair and lighter blue-green eyes, was quite attractive and didn't seem as easily agitated like his partner. He was dressed in a faded black-and-white tunic, tan pants with a brown belt wrapped around it, combat boots like his comrade's and a yellow ascot coming up from his tunic's collar. The man also had a gun at his right side, strapped to his belt in the manner of a cowboy, but Ryoko doubted he came all the way here just to use it. In fact, judging by the way he was looking straight into the GINN's mono-eye with a friendly grin, Ryoko could tell he wasn't here just to piss the occupants off.

The man whistled as he looked away from the mobile suit and toward the town. "Wow, they weren't kidding when they said 'remote'. I didn't think towns like this still existed, did you Gabriel?" he spoke up for the first time. Ryoko immediately noticed he didn't have the Australian accent; in fact, he sounded North American.

"_Did I tell you to talk yank?"_ the GINN pilot yelled back, his suit's autocannon now taking aim at the man.

The boy groaned. "Damn it Virgil you didn't have to say my name!"

"What's the big deal? We're going to tell someone eventually."

"_Are you listening down there!?"_

The man looked back up at the mobile suit. "And there's no reason to point that at us friend. We have business here, specifically with a man named Aizen Nagato. He's supposed to run a repair shop around here…"

That last part caught Ryoko's attention the most. Her grandfather hadn't mentioned anything like that to her, and as far as she knew he had few contacts outside of the town, and she never heard the names 'Gabriel' or 'Virgil' before. "Enough. You will only cause unnecessary problems if you talk like that." a new voice spoke out that made Ryoko nearly jump. No more than a few feet away, Aizen had made his way out of the repair shop and moved toward the newcomers, casually walking between the GINN's legs as he did. The GINN's mono-eye focused on him now. "You certainly took your time getting here too."

"Our apologies Nagato-_san_, but you picked a very isolated place to set up shop. I'm sure you know it too." the man called 'Virgil' spoke. While still possessing a grin, his tone switched from dry sarcasm to something similar to respectful. He held out his hand. "My name's Virgil. Virgil Reneghan. And this is my partner, Gabriel Zola." He gestured over to the boy.

Aizen took his hand with a nod. "Honored." he said. "You work for Mr. Lee?"

"Yes we do. He sends his regards." Gabriel spoke up. "You have that battery?"

Tucking his hands into his pockets, Aizen nodded. "I do. One ultracompact battery, salvaged from the remains of a Dagger; a perfect fit for any vintage Earth Alliance mobile suits." He explained out loud, probably to show the GINN pilot that he wasn't hiding anything. "However, I still have some work to do before it's ready for transportation."

"How long?" Gabriel asked.

"Three hours at the most." Aizen replied, not missing a beat.

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Why so long?"

"The power connectors have been troublesome lately, and I'd like to find the problem and fix it before I send it out." Aizen said, looking between the two. "If they're not fixed, the whole battery might explode if you try to turn it on."

"That bites." Gabriel relaxed his arms behind his back. "So what do we do in the meantime?"

The old technician gestured down the street. "I suppose you could get something to eat and look around our fair town. It's not much, but Stirling still has some things to offer." He then glanced toward the corner of the street toward his granddaughter, making Ryoko jump in the process. "Isn't that right Ryoko?"

Sighing at the fact she had been noticed, Ryoko came out of her hiding place and walked hesitantly toward her grandfather. Aizen looked back to the two. "This is my granddaughter Ryoko. She'll show you gentlemen around."

Ryoko cast her grandfather a glance that, if not for their relationship, could have been considered murderous. Both Virgil and Gabriel suddenly felt that something was going to develop here. "If it's that big of a problem _Ojii-sama_, I could help you." she spoke with a slightly condescending tone.

"Are you saying I'm getting too old to do this on my own?" Aizen asked, now sounding very skeptical.

The young girl could have sworn she felt a big drop of sweat roll down the back of her scalp. "No…"

"Then I will not need your assistance. Please take these gentlemen to the diner while I get to work." Aizen ordered her, with thunder echoing in his voice. Ryoko knew when her grandfather got like that, there was no arguing with him; all she could do was obey.

Looking from Aizen to the two newcomers, who were both watching the scene with curiosity and what looked like amusement on Virgil's part, Ryoko closed her eyes to calm herself for a moment. "I'll show you around." she said, gesturing them to follow.

Just as they were about to leave, something else came up in Aizen's mind. "Almost forgot." He said, calling back the threesome's attention. "Sorry gentlemen, but outside weapons aren't allowed in Stirling Valley. I will hold them until you leave."

Virgil thought about it for a moment, but then decided to go with it so he pulled out the gun, which was as noted before large, golden colored and possessing a long, slender barrel. Although Aizen didn't seem fazed, Ryoko immediately recognized it, as her eyes widened. _A Luger? I thought those were lost after the end of the AD calendar._ she thought, looking over the gold colored pistol. _In good condition too. Wow._

"Make sure to keep it safe." Virgil twirled the gun and grabbed the barrel, letting Aizen take the handle. "It's my favorite gun."

The old man gave Virgil an understanding glance, before looking to Gabriel. "And you?"

"Just these." With a sudden burst of motion, Gabriel flicked his arm, and drew a pair of handguns from his sides. They were clearly Beretta 92Fs, chrome colored and highly customized. He then made simultaneous twirls with both of them before he handed them to Aizen.

"Show off." Virgil chastised. Aizen himself simply nodded at Gabriel, as if acknowledging his skill, before slipping the Luger underneath his jacket, and then taking the Berettas and doing the same with them.

"Right, let's go." Ryoko said, starting to walk off again. One could tell by her voice and actions that she was still very unpleased.

The two followed her, albeit with some caution on their part, down the street and further into the town. The GINN, whose pilot had been silent for the most part as he was unsure of what was going on, watched them leave, and then turned his suit's mono-eye back down to Aizen. _"Johnny's not going to like you dealin' behind his back Old Man."_

"Let me worry about that." Aizen spoke back up to the mobile suit. With that in mind, the GINN lowered its autocannon and marched away, leaving the old man standing in the middle of the street alone.

Aizen himself went back into the hangar, and closed the door behind him. Placing the weapons on the ground for a moment, he reached into his right pocket and withdrew a piece of paper, the same one that had been slipped to him when Virgil shook his hand. He read the paper's contents.

_Fireworks begin at Midnight. Be ready. –Lee_

* * *

**Rodney's Diner** – **Stirling Valley, Western Australia**

It took the trio about fifteen minutes to the area of town where the local diner was. Throughout that time, neither Ryoko nor the two men that followed her had spoken a word. Ryoko didn't mind this; sure, she was curious about these two, but she was still fairly upset from her prior conversation with her grandfather, so she didn't think she could talk without venting. Both Virgil and Gabriel themselves seemed to notice this, although they still remained close to the girl.

The silence was finally broken when they made it to Rodney's Diner. "I can't believe this…" Gabriel spoke up in disappointment. Like the rest of the town, the diner was very much run down, to the point where one would have assumed it was abandoned if not for the two gang thugs standing around the entrance like guards. Ryoko fixed him an annoyed glare. "If you don't like it, you can wait outside with them." She gestured at the would-be bouncers. The boy looked at the two, then looked back at Ryoko and shrugged; it wasn't something to argue over, and he didn't feel like doing that anyway.

They moved forward again, making their way toward the diner's entrance. The thugs cast glares at the newcomers, but when Ryoko fixed them with her own glare and told them 'they're with me', they nodded understandingly, with one stepping aside to let them pass. The threesome entered the diner without harassment.

The inside of the diner wasn't much better. A few decades back it might have been a good place to stop for some coffee and a meal, but now it was dirty and poorly maintained. The occupants didn't look much better themselves; many of them looked like they'd seen too much death and destruction in their lifetimes. Gabriel spoke up again at seeing this, "I have to ask… Has your town always been like this, or did it all go to hell after it was taken over?"

"A little bit of both. You could have called it a 'sleepy mining town' once, but now it might as well be a refugee camp." Ryoko replied with a frown, one that wasn't aimed toward Gabriel's comment but for the fact she shared his views. "Believe me, I don't like it any more than you do."

The trio eventually sat down at the counter and placed their orders to the weary cook. After a few uncomfortable moments, Ryoko decided to try and break the ice with her guests. "So, when did you two get into business with _ou_… my grandfather?" she asked.

"A few weeks back, after one of our mobile suits took a nasty blow to the battery. Our boss is a friend of your granddad's, so he just recalled a favor and that's why we're here." Gabriel explained.

Ryoko looked at him for a moment. "You two are mobile suit pilots?" her expression suddenly turned into one of interest.

"That'd be us." Virgil replied, taking note of Ryoko's sudden change. "We're only mercenaries though. Militaries don't pay as much as they used to."

"What mobile suits do you pilot? Alliance, ZAFT or something else?" Ryoko asked.

There was a small pause before the question was answered, as their meals arrived and all three began to eat. But it only lasted for a small moment, and Gabriel spoke up again after swallowing. "We use whatever we can get, but for now they're Alliance suits."

"That's cool, Alliance suits are the best." Ryoko said, thinking. "I don't see many of those, since almost everyone on this continent uses a GINN or some other ZAFT POS. Still, some will appear here and there."

"What about you? Have you always been a mobile suit tech?" Gabriel asked, looking towards her this time.

Ryoko sighed. "As long as I can remember, but I'm only good with electronics. I'd rather be a pilot."

"It's not as cracked up as it sounds." Gabriel stepped in again. "We're always fighting for whatever we can scrounge up, and there's always the risk of dying…"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Let me rephrase that last part: I _am_ a pilot, and I have experience, so don't give me that speech."

If the words themselves weren't believable, it was the tone in Ryoko's that stated it as fact. It was enough to catch Gabriel off guard, and suddenly he became more interested. "Really?" was all he could let out.

"Yeah. Trained in a dinky Strike Dagger, and then some idiot came into town with an old Windam from the Second War and got himself shot, so I got to keep the mobile suit. Fought in a few battles too, nothing big." Ryoko explained.

"What happened to it?" Gabriel wondered between chews.

"Ran into a GOUF in Barossa Valley and the Dagger got trashed. Barely got out of there alive." Ryoko explained.

"Ouch. That must feel bad, losing your mobile suit like that. And Windams are harder to get on this end of the world." Virgil spoke after what felt like a while, before taking another bite from his fish.

"It hurt for a while, but I found a new mobile suit." Ryoko said, this time a little disdained. "The problem is I can't get it to work right."

Gabriel raised an eyebrow at that while Virgil continued eating. "Between you and your grandpa, you can't get one mobile suit to work?"

"The mechanics all work great, even better than most suits I'm used to. The problem is with the OS; no matter what I do with it, the suit won't move." Ryoko groaned. This was embarrassing to her personally. "If it did, I'd be long gone from this place too." she muttered to herself.

Both Virgil and Gabriel heard her, and although they both chose to ignore it, Gabriel looked at her sympathetically. Suddenly breaking the tranquility came when a new group of thugs entered the diner, all looking quite satisfied with themselves. The thugs, five in all, weren't very discernable from each other, since they were all wearing leather, chains and all but one had mohawks of different colors.

What did get some attention, however, was the trio of young women they were dragging with them with ropes around their arms. The three women were in their late teenage years, with one being a blonde, the other two brunettes. Their clothing was battered with mud and dirt, as well as being ripped up in several places. Their faces were very passive compared to their captors, each bearing a thousand-yard stare.

Everyone in the diner was looking at them, but only Ryoko was showing a disgusted expression. The rest simply shrugged it off as if it were normal. "Bring on the amber! We're celebratin'!" one of them called out.

An elder looking waitress brought over some glasses of beer. The bandits immediately grabbed them and started drinking up the brew like water. After a few seconds, one of the bandits had noticed that the blonde girl was staring at his drink with a faded glance; one could see the desperation and thirst in her eyes.

In response to this, the bandit spat into the glass and the girl immediately looked away. "What, don't you want a drink?" the bandit chiseled at the girl, spitting again.

Not waiting for a response, if one were to come, he grabbed the girl's head and then pressed his fingers against her throat, forcing her mouth open. "Drink up love!" the bandit howled, as he began pouring the beer into the blonde's mouth. The other bandits couldn't help but laugh at the scene, even more when the girl stammered to the floor and started vomiting.

Although they didn't turn to watch directly, Virgil and Gabriel were both aware of what was happening, especially for the fact none of the other patrons in the diner were reacting to the scene. Glancing around, they saw the waitress serving drinks to another group, the cook frying up some eggs in the back, and the other patrons were simply paying attention to themselves and their meals. It seemed to be a normal thing to them. "Just what is with this place!?" Gabriel muttered in his breath, not believing what he was seeing. "I know this town is ass fucked to hell, but not this…bad…" he looked at Ryoko to hear her comment, stopping when he saw the look Ryoko had on her face.

At first Ryoko didn't seem to react. Then without any warning, she grabbed her now empty mug, twisted around and flung it at the aggravating bandit. In a split second, the bandit was on the ground unconscious, his head bleeding and the mug in several broken pieces. All attention in the diner turned to Ryoko as the many eyes of the patrons looked at her as if she had done something insane. Three of the unconscious man's comrades also bolted up. "You bitch, what the 'ell was that for!?" one of them blurted out.

"Sorry, it's an old habit of mine. You can only throw hard objects at loudmouth idiots for so long that it becomes instinct." Ryoko said sarcastically, getting up off her stool.

One of them pulled out a knife with a serrated blade. "Frisky are we? Be fixin' that…"

"Forget it Eddie." the one sitting down said.

"What the-? She just threw a glass at Lil' Rob!" 'Eddie' stated.

"I said forget it twit." The man ordered, then looking at Ryoko. "Really, Ryoko-love, why do you insist on making trouble for me and my bunch? Chuckin' a glass like a stone at my mate wasn't necessary."

"As I said, Johnny, he was being an idiot." Ryoko retorted. She was more than a little peeved about Johnny's chosen nickname for her. "I simply made him shut up."

The bandit leader, Johnny Hale, just laughed at her. "Don't be so modest love. Rob was bein' an ocker to the young lady, and it offended you." A small smile formed on Johnny's face. "Now here's a question, are you mad because you're a sheila yourself, and a beautiful one at that…" his eyes moved down Ryoko's form as he said that. "Or are you do you just feel sorry for them?"

Ryoko didn't reply to that, but her eyes were fixed on Johnny.

"No answer?" Johnny sighed. "Well then…" with that, he grabbed the hair of one of the brunettes and painfully yanked her up despite her painful scream, then pulling a knife against her throat. There was a sadistic smile etched on his face while he did this.

Acting before thinking, Ryoko lunged from her stool ready to beat some proper manners into the bandit leader, only to get restrained by two of the three standing goons. The third one let out a solid right punch into Ryoko's stomach, making her hunch over.

"Bastards…" Gabriel snarled as he watched this over his shoulder. Deftly reaching into his cargo pants pocket, he grasped his fingers around the butterfly knife that was stored there and began to withdraw it; even after what Aizen said, he never went anywhere without a spare weapon. He would have gladly used it to split that Johnny guy's forehead, but before he could turn around, Virgil reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "What the-? Virgil?" Gabriel looked at his partner in confusion.

Virgil didn't reply; he didn't have to anyway, Gabriel could tell what he meant by the fact his smirk was gone and his eyes were trained on the counter. It was his way of saying not to get involved, given the circumstances. Gabriel begrudgingly complied, but the thought still lingered.

At this point, Johnny let go of the woman and walked up to Ryoko, who was now hunched over after the throttle she endured. "You know I like you, Ryoko-love. I appreciate what you and the old man do for us, keeping our mobile suits and equipment all in working order, but you really are a cruel person…"

"Really…?" Ryoko huffed out. "I'm not the one with the sadist streak."

Snickering a little, Johnny reached out and lifted Ryoko's chin so that she was looking his eyes. He ignored her murderous glare and continued. "Really. You see, these young ladies gave up their entire lives to us last night. Their families are all dead, their homes destroyed, their virtues gone…"

Ryoko hissed at that last part, her expression becoming even more violent.

"So what's the point of makin' their lives more painful by fightin' for them, when they have nothing else to fight for on their own?" Johnny continued. "Hell, it's just like this dust bowl of a town, now that I think about it."

"You got it wrong Johnny." Ryoko replied scathingly. "I don't fight for people that already gave up."

"Oh? Then what do you put up a fight for, love?" Johnny asked.

"Myself." Ryoko said simply, as if it were solid fact.

"I see." With that message sent, Johnny reeled back and smashed his fist against Ryoko's cheek, making her head swivel the other way violently. "I'm sorry Ryoko-love, but I had to do that for you throwin' a glass at my mate Rob. No hard feelings, right?"

Ryoko snarled and spat on some blood on Johnny's face. "Nothing of the sort." she said, her voice deep enough that it was almost a growl.

"Good." Johnny said. He then nodded at his men, to which they let go of Ryoko, letting her stumble until she could stand again.

When Ryoko gained her balance, she looked around the diner at the people that were still looking at her. She could read all their faces, how they all thought she was being a troublemaker and a rogue for fighting a fight they wouldn't, as if it were making their lives even harder. She sneered at all of them one last time, and then stormed out of the diner. Not long after, Virgil and Gabriel both exited, escaping the notice of Johnny and his men.

* * *

**Outside Rodney's Diner**

"Damn it all!" Ryoko roared, slamming her fist into the side of a milk bar that she had just walked by. Much to the surprise of her followers, her fist made a nice sized hole in the shack, although this could be accredited to how rundown the milk bar was. Naturally, the shop owners weren't very pleased, as a moment later a large burly man came storming out the door. "The hell are you doing to my shop!?" he bellowed, a fire axe hefted in his arms.

All it took was Ryoko to shift her gaze at him to make him realize he was on steep ground. The shopkeeper lowered the axe and held up a hand. "Ah right. Gives a nice view, don't it?" He said, looking back at the hole which Ryoko made. He then returned to his shop. Ryoko flipped him the finger as he turned away for a final touch.

"Just have friends all over this town, don't you?" Virgil commented as he watched the event. Gabriel didn't say a word.

"You noticed." Ryoko replied dryly, relaxing a bit. "What I did in there was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Just gunning for a fight without thinking."

Virgil thought for a second. "Well, you were up against four very large and armed men; so yes, that was dumb move." he said wistfully. "But I don't disagree with your reasons."

Ryoko sighed. "God I hate this place. I hate everything in this place." she started to mutter, kicking some dirt away. She then looked at the two with a semi-hopeful expression. "There wouldn't be a space open in your team, would there?"

"Hm?" Virgil looked up. "I thought you said you couldn't get your mobile suit to work."

"It's… only temporary." Ryoko stammered, that thought still being an embarrassment and all. "Even if I can't be a pilot, I'm a great electric technician. I could do wonders for your suits' operating systems."

Virgil shook his head softly. "Sorry, but we already have a tech, and she's one of the best."

Ryoko started to frown. "And being a pilot?"

"You said it yourself, your mobile suit doesn't work." Virgil said flatly.

"What if I piloted another one?" Ryoko wondered. Deep inside, she felt as if she stabbed herself in the heart just by thinking along that line.

"We could come to an arrangement, but could you really live with yourself like that?" Virgil looked at her dead in the eye; for a moment he was totally serious.

Ryoko couldn't find it in herself to acknowledge that. And in a passing moment, Virgil's aloofness returned. "No, that wouldn't be right. Even if you did come with us, you'd be forced to leave both your work and your grandfather behind, and that would never sit with you. Am I right?" he asked, his silk smooth voice making it difficult to tell if he was being condescending or not.

Thinking over it for a moment, Ryoko's face faltered and she found herself looking at the ground. "Yes… It wouldn't be right." she forced herself to admit. Although she would have given anything to get out of the town, she knew if she left without either her mobile suit and her grandfather, then it wouldn't be the same. And at the moment, both were unmoving from where they were.

"I thought so. Your best bet would be to find your own way, which I'm sure you will." Virgil smirk seemed to deepen. He looked at his watch then continued. "I imagine you have some work to do, so if you don't mind…" he asked.

"Knock yourself out." Ryoko replied, uncaring. At this moment she didn't feel like dealing with anymore people.

"Very well. G'day to ya, Miss Nagato." Virgil nodded, speaking in a poor Austrailian accent as he moved away.

Gabriel started to walk away himself, but he saw that Ryoko wasn't moving from her spot, and her eyes firmly gazed at the ground. He waved at Virgil that he would catch up and moved next to the young girl. "Sorry. Virgil can be a pain in the ass, but he means well." He said half-jokingly.

"No, he was right. If it were that easy to leave this place, I would have been gone a long time ago." Ryoko said.

"At least you're honest to yourself." Gabriel said sympathetically. He tried to think of a follow-up to that, but his own mind was blurry; he had never talked like this to a girl before.

Deciding to take a risk, he reached out and touched Ryoko's arm, a move that startled her for a second. "Um, what you did back there in the diner…" the boy stammered quickly, before a physical beating were to come. "I thought you were right on, even if it was a gutsy move. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!" he blurted, unshaken. "And if you do ever get out of here, look us up again! Despite what Virgil said, _I_ would like you on our team."

Ryoko didn't respond again, she just looked at him with her eyes widened a little and her mouth hung open. Wasn't this boy reserved a moment ago?

"Yeah." Gabriel suddenly couldn't find himself able to look into her eyes. "Nice to have met you." he quickly walked away to meet a waiting Virgil, who by now was laughing his ass off some distance away. It didn't take long for Gabriel to start yelling at his partner over his embarrassment.

Subconsciously, Ryoko's mouth formed into a small, hopeful smile as she watched the two mercenaries move away. _Maybe there is life on this planet after all._

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	3. Phase 02: Awakening

_"That thing was a monster! How the hell did the Naturals manage to make _five_ of those bastards!?"  
_- ZAFT pilot, shortly after encounter with GAT-X105 Strike Gundam

**Phase 02: Awakening**

**Aizen Nagato's Repair Shop – Stirling Valley, Western Australia  
April 24th, CE 101**

Evening had long since come at this point, and even though he didn't look outside to see the sunset, Aizen Nagato was old enough that he could _feel_ the time in his bones. It was an addition he gained many years ago, back before he had set foot in Stirling Valley with an infant Ryoko in his arms, and over the many years its effect only grew on him. He supposed it came from seeing too much in his lifetime, things that humans of the current generation never had to face. He groaned inwardly at that thought; had he truly aged that much?

In his opinion at least, Aizen had lived a long and fruitful life. Even now he could remember every path he had taken and every choice he had made, as well as the effects that came after. Some of his choices he decided were the right ones, like his decision to come to this town and live a life of solitude, away from the conflicted world that Aizen had lived through. Others at times he wished he could return and make a different choice, but he never concentrated on that feeling; one would gain nothing on that line of thought.

Besides the memories, contemplation was another effect of age, something else Aizen felt he was doing more of than before. As clichéd as it sounded, he wondered if his life had an effect on the mainstream of things. He had done much for Ryoko, and the townspeople thought of him as one of their own, which was quite the opposite of what they thought of his granddaughter, but outside of that, had his life all these years been worth it? Was their any reason to his surviving through the hell of thirty years ago and beyond? Not that Aizen believed in God, but he liked to think something somewhere kept him alive for that long.

_And speaking of Ryoko…_He pondered his granddaughter again, this time leaning back in his manager's chair as he did so. Ever since the two agents had departed with their Dagger battery in tow, the young child had been a lot more reserved. In fact, the only time Aizen saw her was when she walked, no, more like snuck into the hangar without her usual temperament. She then after disappeared into the cockpit of that Earth Alliance mobile suit in the back of the hangar, the one he had called a 'wild and lazy horse', and remained there for the rest of the day.

Seeing that her usual spirit had been quelled, Aizen had decided to leave her to her dream and handled the repairs to the other mobile suits himself. He didn't know what had happened while she was away with the two, but whatever it was had greatly affected her attitude, something Aizen rarely saw happen. But now the repairs had long since been completed, and there was not much else to do. Aizen turned to look at small alarm that was on his desk. _Five hours. She's been in that thing for five hours._ He realized. _She may not like it, but I better get her to quit to for the evening._ The old man inwardly grumbled as he got up. Telling Ryoko to stop working on something that wasn't fixed yet was like trying to get her into a dentist's chair, something Aizen had learned the hard way on.

With solace, he made his way out of the manager's office and through the hangar space. The mobile suits all stood firm and dormant, as if they were put there to stand guard of a long forgotten tomb of a king. The silence only added to the atmosphere, but even the intimidating features of each mobile suit did nothing to hinder Aizen's pace. Soon he came upon the mobile suit in question, the colorless behemoth that had made the corner of the hangar its living space. It was illuminated somewhat by the lights around it, making it appear even more like a sleeping giant or guardsman.

Aizen stopped at a moment to look up at the suits faceplate, looking right into its dimmed optic sensors like he would look into a man's. Although he would never admit it to Ryoko, even he was more than curious about the power this mobile suit seemed to possess; a kind of dormant energy that far surpassed any other suit he had come across, much less the other suits in the hangar. Deep down he had hoped Ryoko would somehow get the machine to work, if just to see how what it looked like active and at full power.

_I'm sure it would have been a spectacular sight, but God in all of his wisdom seems to have other plans._ He thought a little more as he imagined past the eyes and into the mechanics that lay within.

Managing to break his gaze at the mobile suit, he walked over to the ladder and climbed it so he could get on the catwalk. Then when he reached the cockpit, knocking twice. "Ryoko?" he called out softly, as much as his firm voice would allow. When no answer came, he twisted the knob, allowing the hatch to open and reveal its insides.

Sure enough, Ryoko was still in the cockpit, but much to Aizen's surprise she was in a deep sleep. In fact, Aizen couldn't remember when she had slept like this. Her posture was also something strange; aside from her head resting back against the command chair, her body was up right, with the suit's control keyboard laid across her lap and her fingers hovering over the keys as if she were still working. As well, one of Ryoko's favorite songs, Lacus Clyne's "Fields of Hope", was playing softly over the suit's audio system; for some reason, the famous songstress' music made Ryoko relax easier and focus more. All this taken in, Aizen came to the conclusion that Ryoko had fallen asleep without even realizing it, and that in her dreams she was still working diligently on her mobile suit.

Cautiously, Aizen leaned into the cockpit and closed in until he was leaning just over Ryoko's face. As far the opposite from when she was awake, Ryoko's face held a fair and tranquil expression whenever she slept, which allowed one to see the beauty she possessed easier, when it wasn't hidden behind her vicious temperament. Also in contrast, the young woman never snored loudly when she slept; she merely let out a small 'hum', as one could best describe it, which was as smooth as silk and as equally soft. Her dormant state wasn't far from that of a princess of a fairy tale if one thought about it. The old man liked to think that beyond the tough and rough exterior she put on herself, this was the real Ryoko that lay underneath, the one that only he ever saw.Reaching out softly, Aizen stroked his finger across a lock of her brown hair. As he did, he could feel his memory flashback to the beginning, when he first saw Ryoko as a baby. It then progressed from there, with images of his granddaughter as she grew up from an infant to a young child to a teenager and finally into her beginning adulthood. To him, each image was beautiful and a precious memory, even if he didn't want to admit it in the open.

But at the same time, Aizen always lamented when he saw Ryoko like this. Contrary to what he told her, he understood why she was the way she was, and why she rebelled against their setting. Among a population that had long given up its honor and pride as humans, Ryoko had retained her indomitable spirit and her sense of honor and virtue, which would only naturally put her at odds against the people around her. Like the ancient Mustang, she was wild and untamed, no matter who or what attempted to come and make her their own. Such a spirit was rare these days, and Aizen was secretly proud that it existed in his own granddaughter.

If Aizen Nagato regretted one thing in all of his years, it was that he was unable to give his granddaughter a life that she truly deserved and only kept her locked down with everyone else in this town.

_Eh, it wouldn't hurt for her to sleep; we still have a few hours left._ He thought, his face still remaining impassive despite what he felt from within. Moving as silently as ever, he removed the keyboard from Ryoko's lap and folded it back into its storage position. He then reached under the cockpit chair and removed a standard Alliance field blanket, unfolding it to reveal the now seemingly ancient blue 'Crescent Earth' insignia spread across the gray cloth, and then laying it down over Ryoko's sleeping form.

Finally leaning away, he closed the cockpit hatch and left his granddaughter in the safety of her metal sanctuary.

From his place on the catwalk, he could see the rest of the hangar and the mobile suits that lay within it. He made sure to look at each one before he let himself down, it would probably be the last time he saw what had been his workplace for the past decade like this. In only a matter of hours, assuming Lee held up his end, all this would be behind them, and Aizen would finally be able to give his granddaughter the life and freedom she long desired.

* * *

To Ryoko, it had felt only like a few minutes since she had drifted off when the sound of an alarm clock snapped her to consciousness. She blinked a few times and yawned deeply, realizing that she was still in her mobile suit's cockpit. For some reason the music player had switched itself off, although she could have sworn she set the thing to loop. "Alright, alright." she groaned, pulling off the blanket that was covering her and reaching over to tap the said alarm that was placed on the left side air vent behind her cockpit chair.

As her hand deftly moved to hit the 'snooze' button, it hit her. _I never put an alarm clock there._ she realized. A cold feeling came down her spine; if her grandfather caught her snoozing on the job, it would only mean a long lecture, if not cuts in her privileges. But then that begged the question to why he had slipped an alarm clock into the cockpit rather than simply waking her up and giving her an earful. Confused and a little tense, Ryoko grabbed the clock and turned it off, then pulling toward her to look it over. She immediately saw the note attached. _By now it should be 11:40 PM. Get your things together and meet me outside in five minutes. I'll be around the back. – Ojii-sama_

"The fuck?" Ryoko let out, now even more confused. She looked at the clock and it was indeed 11:40 in the evening. Figuring she didn't have much time, she opened the cockpit and climbed out. In the next few minutes, she made her way to her room and got a bag together of her clothes, essentials and valuables. After she got everything she needed, Ryoko walked out from her room and to the outside of the hangar, specifically around the dark alleyway that was between the repair shop and the neighboring building.

"_Ojii-sama_?" Ryoko called out in a whisper, moving cautiously. She never liked going outside at night, considering how bad the town was and how bold Johnny and his thugs could be.

The sound of a match striking a box almost gave Ryoko a heart attack, at the same time causing her to reel around. There before her stood Aizen lighting a cigarette, a duffle bag over his shoulder. "You're two minutes late Ryoko, and we don't have much time."

"What do you mean _Ojii­­-sama_? What's going on?" Ryoko asked. She had her own conclusions, but up until now none of them had seemed very likely.

Then Aizen spoke once more. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, as if disappointed that Ryoko hadn't figured it out. "We're leaving."

Before Ryoko could say another word, Aizen began to move. The young electronics tech complied, remembering that she wasn't in a safe place, and she knew better than to question her grandfather at a time like this. As they moved through the darkness, Ryoko only then started to ask questions. "I thought you said that our lives were in this town, that we had no where else to go."

"I did." Aizen answered, as they ducked into another alleyway.

"So why are we all of a sudden leaving?" Ryoko asked.

"It's not sudden; I've been planning this out for a while." Aizen answered again flatly.

"_Nani!?_" Ryoko said, now even more astonished.

"You think too little of me. I only came to this place because it was a nice, isolated part of the world where you could grow up. I originally planned for us to leave on your fifteenth birthday, when you were old enough to travel, but that's when Johnny and his company moved in on us." Aizen stated, a little bitter over that fact.

Something in Ryoko sparked a realization. "The two from this afternoon…"

"I hired them to get us out of here. They will be here in a few minutes." Aizen said. "There is shelter in the next square for us to hide in while they deal with our 'employers'."

Ryoko gave an incredulous glare at Aizen. "Why didn't you trust me _Ojii-sama_? You knew I wanted to leave more than anything, so why didn't you fill me in on this plan of yours?"

Before Aizen could answer, he motioned at Ryoko to stop for a moment. They were now in the square centered around four different streets, and the entrance to the 'shelter', which was really a basement for a blacksmith shop, was not far away. He looked at Ryoko once, seeing that the question wasn't going to disappear from her mind, so he closed his eyes as if to sigh. "'It is the business of the general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order…'"

"Don't give me that Art of War bullshit!" Ryoko nearly shouted.

Aizen just shrugged. "To put it frankly, I was afraid you would have a sudden change in your vibrant personality. One that people would notice."

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but she closed it. There was no way out of that one. "Let's just get out of here…" she muttered.

"Kinda late for a stroll, don't ya think?"

As if on cue, Johnny and eight of his thugs walked out of the surrounding alleyways and gathered in front of the blacksmith shop. The thugs were armed with vintage ZAFT assault rifles while Johnny was holding an antique shotgun, all of which were trained at Aizen and Ryoko. Ryoko's face twisted into one of shock while Aizen, still remaining passive, wore an expression that said even he didn't see this coming.

Johnny walked in front of the posse, smug grin over his face. He was still wearing his sunglasses, so neither Ryoko nor Aizen could see his eyes, but they knew he was looking at them like a cat over trapped mice. "Y'know Aizen, I knew you were up to somethin'. Somethin' big, which is why I had Bradley here keep eyes on you." He nodded over to a Bradley, who was also holding an assault rifle and a grin. "Heh, you must've thought I was some inbred idiot not to notice you keepin' to yourself these days."

"'Inbred'?" Ryoko asked, wondering if there was something more there.

Johnny quickly pushed his glasses up as if to dismiss the question. "But honestly, Aizen, I never thought in a mill' years of you tryin' to cut out on our partnership. Ryoko love, yes, but not a gent like you."

"Then you're not as observant as you claim." Aizen said, flat as ever.

Although the words themselves might not have been scathing, Aizen's attitude and tone certainly hit Johnny on levels Ryoko's defiance didn't. For a moment his teeth grit together and his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, but he soon laughed that off and switched back to his disposition.

"So what was your plan again? You'd hide in a hole while those two bloke mercs come in and kill me and my mates?" he then turned to Ryoko. "Oh I noticed those boys you were with Ryoko love. The only reason I didn't kill 'em was I wanted your grand-dad to get all the way here before being sprung. Don't worry though, we'll deal with them when they show up; what can two sorry-ass mercs do to me and mine anyway?"

Ryoko probably would have shot off a quip, but Johnny didn't want her to, so he switched back to Aizen. "Now, I could easily kill you two, but you're valuable partners. So if you go back to your hangar, I promise we'll all forget about this by morning."

Neither Ryoko nor her grandfather moved. The air only seemed to get chillier around them in fact. Johnny was about to repeat his statement but even behind his shades, his eyes caught something. It was the look Aizen was giving him. It wasn't the kind of shivering glance that one had when staring up a gun barrel, in fact it was an outright glare. A very familiar looking defiant glare. Johnny realized it was the same glare Ryoko gave him on a daily basis, only now the old man was giving it to him, and more than likely he was the one Ryoko got it from.

Johnny's eyes twisted with anger. "No?" he stated, suddenly cocking his shotgun and leveling it.

_KA-BLAM!_ Time suddenly slowed as that sound echoed in the air. Aizen could only watch as he caught a full burst of shrapnel into his chest, the force behind the blast powerful enough to actually lift him off his feet. He could hear his heartbeat over each second, he saw Ryoko's eyes widen as she watched him fly back, blood bursting out of him. And then just as suddenly, Aizen was on the ground, the pain and numbness entering him.

"_Ojii-sama_!!" Ryoko cried out when Aizen landed on the ground. Forgetting about the guns being pointed at her, she rushed to his side and looked over the damage. She was horrified to see Aizen's chest had been blown open from the burst, to the point that no matter how much Ryoko defied it and tried pushing the thoughts away, that he didn't have long. It was a twist of fate that the blast didn't kill him instantly. She looked back at Johnny with desperation in her eyes. "A doctor! Get a doctor!"

Johnny simply grinned at her. "Ol' bloke had it comin'." He muttered, his thugs laughing at it.

Ryoko ignored them and scrambled to find some way to save him, even though the most medical experience she had was digging out bullets and applying bandages. She had no idea where to start, and the more his breathing to hampered, the more panicked she became. _This isn't happening…! It just can't!_ she screamed in her mind. _There's got to be something…_

She then felt a hand reach up and touch her on the cheek. When that happened, Ryoko's eyes shifted from the wound to Aizen's face. He was staring up at her, his eyes still possessing the edge they always did, looking into her eyes.

What Ryoko didn't realize was Aizen was seeing more than just her; he was seeing her as an infant, then a young child, followed by a pre-teeneager, and then finally all the way back to the young woman that she had become. Every memory of his raising her and her growing up flashed through Aizen's mind, as if he were reliving the experiences all over again, and it filled him with pride at the woman she was now and sadness that he wouldn't be able to see her grow further. All he could do was look at her one last time.

"Ry... ok… o." he breathed her name one syllable at a time.

And then with the suddenness of a lightning bolt, Ryoko saw Aizen do something that she never seen before. He smiled. It was a half smile, but a genuine one. She watched as his hardened nature rolled off his shoulders, and for the first time in perhaps his whole life, he visually displayed what he felt in side. Pride. Love. Hope. Everything he ever felt toward his granddaughter in a lifetime was being shown in only moments. And even as the world started to fade, Aizen's gaze and smile never left Ryoko's eyes…

And then it was over. Aizen's head went limp and his hand dropped from Ryoko's cheek. Ryoko remained over the body, not moving. From the angle the thugs were looking, her eyes were hidden underneath her hair.

Johnny motioned toward Bradley, who nodded and walked over to the girl, his gun trained on her as he went. Johnny himself could only imagine what Ryoko was going through right now, but he really didn't care. If anything, this would finally put her in her place, something force and intimidation never did. "Ryoko love…" he started, expecting some violent counter.

When none came, he continued. "You're not stupid love. You know better than to try somethin' foolish. I'm a generous man, you can go back and we'll give you some time to mourn ya granddad. If you don't, well…"

He paused again to see if she was going to do anything, but again she didn't. He was beginning to think she had finally been broken, which made his grin grow bigger. "You're a beautiful woman Ryoko, and I can think of a number of uses for ya outside of maintenance work." There was an eerie collective chuckle around the gang members. "And if you try an' cross me, then I might have no choice but to put ya through that hell. So go on an' hop back to your hole, jus' let it end here." he offered.

Ryoko still didn't move, and Johnny still couldn't see her eyes. Bradley, getting agitated, forcibly grabbed her arm and brought her to her feet, then turning her around to face him. "You betta' look when someones' talkin' to ya, Sheila!" Bradley said, he himself feeling dominant. He grabbed her chin and started to force her to look up.

"When the boss-man says 'go home', you…" When Bradley finally met Ryoko's eyes, the words stopped in his throat and his own eye widened in great horror.

But it was momentary. Bursting into motion, Ryoko's fist met Bradley's face with a dull crack, and the big man was on the ground no more than a moment later. At the same time, Ryoko grabbed onto Bradley's assault rifle, took quick aim and let out a full burst.

One of the thugs next to Johnny caught the burst full on, shaking violently as bullet after bullet shot into his body. His comrades, without thinking of firing back, all dove for different areas of cover, just as the poor goon dropped to the ground like a brick. Johnny peered over his cover to see her, and when his eyes met hers under the illumination of the gunfire, his heart stopped.

Two of the thugs managed to fire back at Ryoko, forcing her to abandon her attack and back toward the opposite direction. She fired a few more shots to keep them from pursuing, and when she felt she was a good distance away, she turned and ran in full sprint.

"Crikey!" one of the thugs let out as he got up from his spot and ran to the goon. He was shot to hell. "Look what that bitch did to Hob!" he yelled.

"That's nothin'. Look at Bradley!" another one said. He kicked over Bradley slumped body to show what he meant: even from one punch, it looked as though the entire left side of his face had caved in. He was obviously dead, blood leaking out of his smashed mouth and nose, and most of the teeth on his left side had been knocked out as well. "It's like he lost a fight to a fuckin' kangaroo!"

"Damn, when did that girl get strong like that!?" another thug said astonished. "We may need to get all the mates after her, right Johnny?" No answer. He turned to look at his boss to see why. "Johnny?"

Johnny was just now getting out of his cover spot, which was behind a beat up old truck that was parked at the side of the square, and for lack of better words, he looked as though he had just seen a ghost. Behind his glasses, his eyes were wide, his skin pale and his movements slow, like he had just survived an explosion.

Everyone rushed to his side. "Boss, you 'right?" one of them asked.

"…her eyes." Johnny muttered.

"Boss, what are you talking about?" one man asked.

All of a sudden, Johnny regained his composure and started barking orders. "Get everyone up and get the mobile suits ready! I want that bloody cunt dead before our guests arrive." He growled.

"Wha? Boss, I know you're offin' mad, but why the suits?" someone asked.

Johnny shot that person a withering glare. "I'm not takin' any fuckin' chances with this one! 'sides, she's goin' for the hangar! Kill her before she comes at us with a fuckin' suit of her own!"

* * *

**Aizen Nagato's Repair Shop hangar**

Ryoko slammed the door to the hangar behind her and then leaned back against it, breathing heavily. The tears were still running down her cheeks even after the running, and she could feel herself begin to break down. "_Ojii-sama…_" she murmured, sobbing. With a great cry, she slammed her fist into the door, the force behind it being the exact same she had used on Bradley. Her punch was enough to make a dent that made the whole door cringe, despite the fact it was made of metal.

For a moment she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a corner and mourn her loss, but she didn't have time for it. She just killed two of Johnny's men, assuming Bradley's skull had been smashed like she thought she felt, and they would be coming for her. Worst case, they'd come after her with their mobile suits, which is why she had fled back to the hangar. There was only one thing left to do.

Moving quickly, Ryoko ran past the assorted mobile suits in the hangar until she came to her own. Clambering up to the cockpit, she opened it, tossed her bag and assault rifle inside, and then threw herself on the pilot chair, sealing herself inside the giant. Technically she could have taken one of the mobile suits, ones that she knew were in working condition, but Ryoko knew they wouldn't be able to stand up to her opponents. Besides, with her grandfather dead, this mobile suit was really all she had left, and she was not going to leave it behind.

_There's not much time left. _Ryoko thought, still on the verge of tears. _I beg you, please don't let me down now._ She mentally pleaded with the machine as she folded the keyboard onto her lap.

It took her a moment for her to calm herself and gain some composure before she began typing. The main monitor activated revealing the diagnostic screen for the mobile suit, with its technical archives and systems. She selected one of the blue box icon for the OS and set to work on it, typing far faster than she usually did.

But no matter how much Ryoko typed, she could not force the image of her grandfather's gaze and smile from her mind, much less the moment he was shot. Those images made her fingers ache and her vision begin to fuzz, which was already ultra-sensitive from her eyes shifting at the sight of Aizen's demise. She couldn't shake off the burning feeling behind her eyes either. _Why did _it_ have to appear then? It only made the situation worse._ She thought, remembering the reactions from Bradley and Johnny when they saw her gaze.

The cockpit began to rumble now; she knew the mobile suits were drawing closer, and from the fact she could feel more than a small tremor there was more than one. Again, she concentrated further into the monitor and her typing to suppress the anxiety, convincing herself that she was almost ready even when deep down she wasn't sure. She had been working on this suit for a long time, and while she hoped all that work would pay off, it was still a long shot that she would be able to fix something in only minutes that she couldn't do over a period of months.

Ryoko paused for a moment to relax her fingers, cracking them hurriedly. She looked over the monitor and sighed, almost ready to resign herself to her apparent fate. "Maybe_ Ojii-sama _was right…" she said, despite her best efforts to suppress the doubt. "Maybe you really weren't what I thought you were…"

The loud 'BOOM' and rumbling of an explosion snapped Ryoko back to her senses. _Shit! They're here!_ she thought, launching herself at the keyboard in a panic. But then another 'boom' followed, and she realized that the sound was coming from some distance away from her mobile suit. She also noticed her suit was still standing and that she hadn't felt any shock from a gun shot. A third 'boom' sounded, this one feeling even further away from her.

Stopping herself from typing, Ryoko paused to listen further to the activity that was going on outside. "What's going on out there?" she managed to find her voice again. A sudden swell of hope entered her mind. _Could it be…?_

* * *

**Main Street - Stirling Valley, Western Australia**

"What the hell's goin' on!? Where'd those shots come from!!" demanded one of the GINN pilots, the mono-eye of his mobile suit shifting violently and the suit's autocannon shifting to different directions, as if that would help him find the enemy.

"Damn it, we're under attack! It's a raid!" screamed another GINN pilot who made his MS dash down the street. The pilot was so confused and scared that he didn't see the mobile suit that landed in front of him until it was too late. The moment he attempted to bring up his suit's autocannon, a beam shot lanced through his suit and obliterated it.

"Tibbets!" screamed the first GINN pilot at the death of its comrade. He twisted to bring his gun against the intruder, but before he could fire, a blast of green ripped into his cockpit and vaporized him on the spot. The GINN, with its pilot turned into charred proteins, tumbled over and fell face first to the ground.

The mobile suit that had landed first simply strolled over to the downed GINN and stopped just in front of the bandit suit's finned head. For a moment it observed the chaos before it that was the town, looking for the opposition to come against him. "This is really disappointing." Gabriel groaned, having his suit's foot step forward and squish the GINN's head into metal shards. "These guys are just as pathetic pilots as they are thugs."

Another suit, a BuCUE, rolled up just a few meters from Gabriel and let loose its 450mm railguns. However, Gabriel had his suit turn to its right to bear the shield attached to its shoulder, canceling out the blasts. He then twisted the mobile suit around to shred the enemy suit with his beam guns, but before he could, a second suit moved out of the shadows and blasted the suit with a kinetic shot from its right shoulder cannon. The BuCUE went down just as quickly.

"Hey, he was mine!!" exulted Gabriel to his partner. Before the reply could come, another pair of GINNs had moved in and launched a barrage of machinegun fire, forcing the two mobile suits to go into evasion.

"There's more than a dozen left to pick from, just stick to the job." stated Virgil as he put his mobile suit into a reverse zig-zag with his thrusters. "And keep your eyes out for the old man and Miss Nagato."

"Yeah yeah." Gabriel mockingly complained as he returned fire, making the two GINNs split up. Both he and Virgil as well moved away to their individual targets.

Compared to the vintage mobile suits they were fighting, the intruder pair really stood out. They looked well maintained and efficient while lacking any smudges or battered areas that were common among mobile suits of this time period. And as the two pilots had spoken earlier, they were definitely Earth Alliance designs, and both had very familiar samurai visages.

The unit Gabriel was piloting was a medium sized mobile suit that was somewhat plain looking; it was certainly unique among most mobile suits, with its aforementioned samurai visage, uniquely designed head that had a v-fin communications antennae and glaring faceplate, but the impression it gave people was that of a simple high-performance unit that didn't have too many gimmicks. Its chassis, which was very much equipped with Variable Phase Shift armor, was colored in white, gray and blue with orange highlights, and although plain looking, extra pieces of armor had been fit over its legs, torso and arms to provide extra durability, as well as better mobility thanks to the additional thrusters mounted on the armor. For weapons, it was equipped with the usual head CIWS that was commonplace on Alliance suits, twin beam guns that were built into the mid-arms so that they could retract when no longer used, two beam sabers mounted on each leg, and a blue shield mounted on the right shoulder armor which also contained a mobile railgun. There was also an extra housing mounted on the left shoulder that could carry additional hand weapons. And finally, a blue and black wolf's head insignia that was exactly like Gabriel's tattoo had been painted over its left shoulder armor. A general purpose machine that was deadly in close to medium quarters and could go head-to-head with any machine ZAFT had to offer in decades past.

And Virgil's unit was just as menacingly unique and intimidating. His suit, also equipped with VPS armor, was a sand colored one with a general green color to its torso and weapons, as well as red highlights. It was a bulky mobile suit with broad shoulder pauldrons and a large backpack, but it moved around with great mobility and ease of motion that surpassed most of the opposition. Unlike Gabriel's unit, it was obvious that this green tinted mobile suit was built for distance fighting, as it carried a massive array of weapons: the standard CIWS in its head supplemented with twin 220mm missile launchers in its shoulder armor, a massive gun launcher over its right shoulder, a high-powered beam cannon over its left shoulder, and twin long beam rifles mounted on either hip. To aid in the accuracy of such powerful weapons, a visor plate that was equipped with a complex sensor package was mounted on its head, folding over the suit's optical sensors when in use. Communications equipment was placed in a pair of green ear fins that were on either side of the head, in place of a v-fin. As well, over its center torso was a curious insignia: a black and silver outlined shield that depicted a crimson red colored horned skull, with a golden banner underneath the shield that read _"ABANDON ALL HOPE_" in blackletter. A powerhouse machine that looked as though it could take on entire armies at once with its firepower and come out on top.

Far more powerful than any 'standard' mobile suit that had been fielded by the Earth Alliance, ZAFT or anything in between, the GAT-X1022 Blu Duel Gundam and the GAT-X103AP Verde Buster Gundam were those types of units that could change the flow of a battle just by entering it. And in a way, that was exactly what was happening now.

Gabriel brought the Blu Duel up to his quarry GINN, evading the autocannon shots with a well placed thruster jump while simultaneously drawing one of his suit's ES05A "Hrunting" beam sabers. A quick slash split the autocannon in half, but the GINN saw it coming and drew its own MA-M3 heavy sword for the melee. Gabriel couldn't help but roll his eyes at the GINN's persistence. Deciding to give the pilot some benefit, he let the GINN make two slashes with the sword before he made a counterattack that cut the sword blade off from the hilt. A quick slash across the torso, separating the GINN into two parts, and it was down for the count.

The other GINN had been dispatched just as quickly. That GINN, seeing that its autocannon was useless, attempted a suicide run with its heavy sword, the pilot probably thinking it would have a better chance. Virgil would have laughed at that, but he settled for another pinpoint shot through the cockpit with his left M9009B "Gewehr" composite beam rifle. Even when the pilot was killed, the GINN continued its trot for a few more moments before it finally fell over face first, with the Verde Buster stepping aside to avoid a collision. Smoke rose from the neatly etched hole across the suit's back.

Before they could move on, the proximity sensors on both mobile suits went off: another BuCUE had rolled up several meters away and had let loose a barrage of homing missiles. The barrage ascended into the sky and then arced in flight to rain down on the two mobile suits, but both had turned to face it and let loose their head guns. 40mm rounds rained from the twin M2M7 "Igelstellung II" CIWS on either mobile suit, eliminating the missiles in a brilliant light show.

Suddenly the BuCUE pilot realized he had no firepower left, as it immediately converted into tank mode and ran in full reverse.

"Oh no you don't!" Gabriel cried out, putting the Blu Duel into a thruster jump. Reaching into its left shoulder housing, the Duel withdrew one of the three kunai-like Mk315 "Stiletto" explosive throwing blades that were stored there, and then with a flick of the Gundam's arm, threw the blade straight into the BuCUE. Actually, it was more like the BuCUE had run into the blade as it tried to back away, as the "Stiletto" dug deep into the quadruped mobile suit's back and exploded, ripping the BuCUE and its pilot into shrapnel. The Blu Duel landed a few meters away itself, with the Verde Buster coming up to meet beside it.

"What? Is that it?" Gabriel spoke out challengingly. "And where's the populace? You'd think some flashy explosions would draw their attention."

Virgil scanned over the town with the Verde Buster's sensors before he answered. "Looks like they're playing it smart and staying in their homes. And by the way Gabriel, watch it with those 'flashy explosions'; that last one almost set a building on fire."

"So? Not like we give a damn about these people." Gabriel said, remembering back to the afternoon at Rodney's Diner.

"No, but like it or not, they're not involved. Let's head to the meeting point." Virgil ordered.

Both mobile suits then went on a steady walk, leaving behind the burning wreckages of their opponents and going deeper into the town. As he scanned more over the town, Virgil couldn't help but laugh silently to himself; even from the height of a mobile suit, this place looked desolate. In fact, it looked even more run down as he had a better view of the buildings and the diamond mine now. _This must be what the end of civilization will look like_. He thought, looking down at a building into the window of a house. He thought he saw someone looking back up at him with fear in his or her eyes, but he couldn't tell. _And the funny thing is it was probably like this before the wars and Break the World too…_

With all that in mind, he supposed he could sympathize with Miss Nagato and her grandfather; this place would probably drive him insane too. Still, he shook his head of such thoughts and continued to look around. There was undoubtedly going to be more mobile suits out there, but it seemed like they were keeping back for the moment. That suited Virgil just fine, as he and Gabriel had all the time in the world to kill these scum, and he doubted they had anything in their arsenal that could match their Gundams.

For a moment, he stopped his mobile suit and turned the Buster's head from side to side. _Come out come out, wherever you are…_ Virgil thought sadistically to himself. He knew somewhere someone was pissing his pants and praying that he and Gabriel find what they wanted and leave just as quickly.

"Ah shit." Gabriel spoke. "Look at this Virgil."

Virgil knew by Gabriel's tone something bad had happened, so when he moved the Verde Buster to the meeting area where the Blu Duel was standing, he wasn't that surprised. "Shit indeed." Virgil said, looking over Aizen Nagato's body from his monitor. "So much for getting this over with fast and clean."

"And he was a nice guy too." Gabriel sighed, thinking it was a waste. He had his main camera zoom closer to the body so he could study it. "Near point-blank with a shotgun, but from the expression he didn't die right away."

_Hopefully the girl is still alive though…_ was all Virgil could think when he looked at the body. _Otherwise this is going to be a very long night. _

Both Gabriel and Virgil's sensors went off again, detecting almost a dozen more heat signatures. Looking, they saw a large group of mobile suits moving out from the diamond mine and other places in the town, either thruster jumping or rolling on treads until they took positions in front of the two Gundams. GINNs, BuCUEs, a ZuOOT or two and one ZGMF-515 CGUE, all lined up to show their numbers for intimidation effect.

"My, my, so many to choose from…" Virgil said in a sing-song tone, not bothered by the numbers. It just meant a more 'eventful occasion'.

"You two have caused me and mine a lot of trouble." Johnny spoke, making his battered CGUE step forward and level its weapons at the enemy MS. It aimed the MMI-M7S 76mm autocannon in its right hand at the Blu Duel and the M7070 28mm shield vulcan gun at the Verde Buster. "Pretty good for some random mercs. How 'bout you come work for me?"

"It'd cost you." Virgil replied on an open channel.

"Name your price." Johnny said without missing a beat.

Virgil's grin appeared, but it was a lot more sinister now. "Not much, just your lives."

"Which one of you shot the old man?" Gabriel said as the Blu Duel took a step forward. It didn't move any of its weapons, but one could tell it was still ready to fight.

The CGUE's mono-eye shifted to the Blu Duel. "I did." Johnny said, trying to sound prideful without choking. He wasn't sure how the enemy MS would react to that, but he wasn't going to back down. "The old man and I were long time business partners, had some great times and profits together too. But then he hired you blokes with your fancy mobile suits so he could run out on me, so I fired him. Literally. I hope for your sakes he paid you earlier…"

"Heh heh." Virgil laughed a little.

In his cockpit, Johnny felt a chill at that laugh. "Thought that was funny mate?"

"No, but I think you're under the wrong impression." Virgil said.

"We're not getting paid for this job; the old man just happens to be a friend of our Captain's. That means it's a personal obligation to us." Gabriel explained.

"And while we can't help Aizen-san now, there's still his granddaughter." There was an edge to Virgil's tone now. "Hand her over to us, and we'll let you live for another sunrise."

Johnny wasn't sure how to take that ultimatum at first, aside from the fact this man had a pair. They were only two mobile suits against eleven, and no matter how good their suits were, those two morons couldn't take all of them at once. Still, they could cause a fair amount of damage before going down, and letting Ryoko go would prevent that.

But then Johnny remembered that glare Aizen gave him before he died, and he gritted his teeth at it. He wasn't going to let such audacity go without spite. "Oh, that might be a little difficult." Johnny said, now sounding surer of himself. "Because she's dead too."

"Eh?" Virgil's grin disappeared.

"Yeah, the bitch wouldn't stop wailin' after her precious 'ojee-somethin' bit it, so I shot her." Johnny said, grinning. Even if it was a lie, he had no doubts they were buying it. "A waste too, I always thought she'd be a demon under the sheets."

In the Blu Duel, Gabriel didn't realize it but his grip tightened around the mobile suit's control stick. His eyes narrowed too.

"But whatever, she's dead. And since you two aren't getting paid, I don't see what you're doing here. I promise not to shoot you in your backs if you turn around and leave now." Johnny offered.

"…Did she die quickly?" Virgil asked, his mobile suit remaining unmoving.

It barely took a second for Johnny to reply, seeing as he was on a roll tonight. "Nope, took it three times in the chest and we just let her stay like that."

"I see…" Virgil replied. "That's too bad."

"Yeah, it's a fuckin' waste. So if you two could turn…" Johnny started again.

And that's when Gabriel finally spoke up. "He meant for _you_, asshole!!"

Again without warning, the Verde Buster and the Blu Duel open fired with their shoulder mounted cannons. Two projectiles and one beam trailed through the air and blasted into a GINN OCHER Type, immediately turning the desert-oriented mobile suit into fiery remains, all before the pilot could realize he had been targeted. Definitely overkill, but the point was made.

There was no command for the return fire; the ZAFT mobile suits all responded with their various weapons at the Gundam types. Virgil and Gabriel weren't that easy to hit though; instead of running, they used their respective mobile suit's thrusters to hover and speed, giving them much greater mobility. But they didn't concentrate on dodging, as both Gundams returned fire with their weapons.

Almost immediately another GINN was taken down with a well placed beam shot through the cockpit from Virgil. At the same time, one of the ZuOOTs had tried to move into a position to use its twin-barreled cannons, but the Blu Duel quickly dispatched it with a spray of fire from its beam guns. At that point Johnny realized that his numbers weren't going to matter against these two. These weren't random mercenaries like he first thought; Old Man Aizen had actually hired real professionals to kill him and his men. And they were going to take them down one by one. Johnny had a sinking feeling that if something didn't happen quick, he would be dead.

But then he remembered Ryoko again. She was very likely still in the hangar. This made him grin; at the very least he could spite Aizen one last time and send his granddaughter to join him for real. "Gimmler! Crow! Break off and storm the hangar! Send that bitch to her fuckin' grandpappy!" Johnny ordered over a secure channel.

Upon that command, two GINN OCHERs moved out from the rest. This only left eight suits to fend off the intruders, but to Johnny it would be worth it.

* * *

**Aizen Nagato's Repair Shop hangar**

Ryoko heard the explosions grow louder on the outside, as well as becoming more frequent. Although with her mobile suit's sensors inactive, she couldn't tell what was going on, but since the fighting was continuous she had to assume the mercenaries were giving Johnny and his team hell to pay. The thought of the murderer of her grandfather being put against a corner made her feel better about her situation, but she still wanted a piece of the action. Thus, she continued her work even with the battle happening outside, knowing or at least hoping that she didn't have too far to go.

Then she heard and felt rumblings coming close to the hangar. Ryoko's blood chilled, realizing that the explosions were still happening further away. _Looks like he hasn't forgotten about me._ She thought, knowing that it meant Johnny had broken off some of his team to kill her while the rest fought against the invaders. Although she had calmed since the activity outside, a little bit anyway, she knew that her time table had shortened to mere minutes, if not seconds.

"Lil' bitch! Lil' bitch! Won't you come out?" she heard one of the gangsters yell out sadistically through his mobile suit's loud speaker. "If you don't, we'll jus' huff and puff and blow your hangar down!"

Ryoko sighed and stopped working. Looking over her monitor, she knew she had done all she could with this machine, and now it was now or nothing. Placing her hands over the keyboard, she let her eyes close for a moment. _Ojii-sama..._ she let her mind flash through the memories of her grandfather and her time with him growing up. Both good and bad, the memories flashed in her mind briefly, each one making her feel relaxed and at peace. It went all the way up to the moment he saw him fly back from the shotgun burst and the smile he gave her no more than minutes ago.

And then her eyes flew open. _Now or never!_ She hit the enter key.

The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. The first thing Ryoko heard was the hum of the mobile suit's battery reactor come to life. It was a familiar sound that she had heard in many mobile suits, but now it felt so foreign to her and full of life. Next, the cockpit instruments lit up one-by-one. The two hundred seventy degree monitor in front of her lit to display the surrounding hangar, as seen through the mobile suit's optic sensors, followed by the HUD display, the sensor display that showed two mobile suits outside of the hangar and others further out, as well as the numerous control panels surrounding Ryoko. Diagnostics showed all systems were in the green.

Ryoko's eyes flared to life as she realized that her main project had at long last come to life. "There is a God!" she cried out. She spooled up the power flow from the battery reactor, and started flipping switches around, following the standard procedure for Alliance-type mobile suits. As she did, the monitor under her HUD flashed again from a blue screen displaying the Earth Alliance insignia to an orange tinted window that read as followed:

**MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM  
/Version NV8 – N099/  
G**eneral  
**U**nilateral  
**N**euro-Link  
**D**ispersive  
**A**utomatic  
**M**aneuver  
**G.U.N.D.A.M. Synthesis System  
O.M.N.I Enforcer**

"Gundam…?" Ryoko admonished. She had heard of that type of mobile suit; she had read stories about the legendary Strike and its impact on the mid-First War, as well as how the entrance of suits like the Freedom and the Justice could literally change the course of an entire battle. She remembered how her grandfather had told her that Gundams were so notorious for their power and symbolism that both the Alliance and ZAFT used them during their conflicts. The stories greatly piqued Ryoko's interest, but that's all she thought of them as: stories.

And yet, the unknown Alliance mobile suit she had been working on all this time, the one that she claimed as her own turned out to be one of those suits. For the first time that night, she drew a smile. "It was a Gundam after all…"

She then flicked the switch that was marked 'PHASE SHIFT'.

* * *

**Near Aizen Nagato's Repair Shop**

_What are those GINNs doing? _Virgil thought when he first noticed the two OCHER types break away from the rest of the team. He thought about turning his attention them, but he had his hands already held up by the other MS. The CGUE pilot especially had gotten much more aggressive, laying down duel fire from his autocannon and shield vulcan to try and overwhelm him, not that his ammunition could so much as scratch the Verde Buster's VPS. Still, Virgil wasn't the type to stand around and take fire.

As Gabriel did away with the second ZuOOT with his shoulder mounted railgun, Virgil let out twin licks of fire from his beam rifles that claimed a BuCUE, narrowing the number of MS down to eight total, with six attacking them. The remaining units grouped closer together to concentrate their fire and strength against the two mobile suits, but all that would do was make it even easier for Virgil and Gabriel to kill them. A costly and amateurish mistake.

At that point, Virgil decided to finish this part. He opened the M67 "Serpent" 220mm missile launchers on his MS' shoulders and fired two missiles. The enemy pilots attempted to shoot down the missiles with their machineguns, which they accomplished, but what they didn't think about was when the missiles exploded, they created a massive smokescreen between the them and the Gundams. Before the enemy pilots could react to this, the Blu Duel jetted through the screen with one of its "Hruntings" lit and quickly cut down two GINNs in a thruster assisted dash. This was then followed by a trio of beam blasts from the Verde Buster that claimed the last remaining GINN, BuCUE and GINN ORCER, just as those three were about to attack the Blu Duel.

In a matter of moments, almost all of Johnny's comrades were dead. He quivered as he saw the last three mobile suits fall. _They took down six bloody suits in seconds!_ His mind screamed out. _Who the hell are these mercs!?_

Knowing he would be following his henchmen if he didn't do anything quickly, he tossed his CGUE's now empty autocannon away and drew its heavy sword. The vintage mobile suit's mono-eye glared challengingly between the Blu Duel and the Verde Buster, which had just moved past the smokescreen. "C'mon bastards! I'm not fuckin' through yet!" he yelled out, denying the cold feeling that was running through his body.

"Neither are we…" Gabriel said sinisterly, his mobile suit's beam saber seemingly becoming brighter. He was really going to enjoy this.

And that's when the alert sensors on all three MS went off, detecting a new intruder. Gabriel halted his advance and shifted his attention to his display. "Now what!?"

Virgil was just as confused, turning the Verde Buster's head toward the source of the detection. He immediately recognized the building. _That's Aizen's repair hangar._ The two GINN OCHERs that had broken away were also there, he noticed. The ORCERs as well seemed to notice the new activation, as they backed away from the hangar while training their machine guns on the hangar. But before they could open fire, a hail of bullets shot through the large steel doors and blazed over the two GINNs, forcing them to jump back.

With a mighty rusted groan, the doors slid to either side, revealing the newcomer mobile suit. And that was when both Virgil and Gabriel could have sworn the devil itself had just appeared.

The first things that were noticed on this newcomer were the similarities it shared between the Verde Buster and the Blu Duel; it had the structuring of an Alliance mobile suit and a samurai-like visage that followed Gundam-types, namely the human-like faceplate with twin glaring yellow eye cameras and the four pointed v-fin that crowned its head. The armor was colored in a black and white scheme that featured red and gold highlights, giving the mobile suit a 'dark' appearance even in the night. It was a medium design, obviously made as a general purpose unit like the Blu Duel, but it lacked that mobile suit's extra armor. Instead, the mobile suit possessed an entirely different feature: wings. A pair of black demonic wings coming off its back that seemed to make the mobile suit appear on a whole different level from the ones before it. Although it was hard to determine what kind of offensive capabilities the suit had, besides the obvious "Igelstellung II" CIWS, one could depict a pair of beam pistols mounted on its hips and twin linear cannons folded on the undersides of its wings. There were also long poles sticking out from the upper parts of the wings, but it was hard to tell whether they were additional weapons or something else. A true harbinger of destruction and malice.

Virgil was the first to recognize the design; he had vague memories of the profile, but the fact his IFF identified it as 'GAT-X105E' confirmed his recognition. "Strike!?" Virgil let out in surprise.

Then without a warning, the GAT-X105E Strike Noir Gundam burst into motion.

* * *

_Is this real?_

That was the current thought flying through Ryoko's head as she saw the scene before her through the Strike Noir's cockpit monitors. She couldn't believe her eyes; aside from Johnny's CGUE and the two GINNs that were sent after her, all of his mobile suits had been totaled, and the town itself was more or less still intact. While she expected a good portion of the gangster owned MS force to be destroyed, she didn't expect them to be wiped out like this. On the other hand, unless her cameras were fooling her, the two invader suits also appeared to be Gundams like hers. _This night has been full of surprises…_ she thought.

Without thinking any further, she had the Strike Noir charge at one of the would-be aggravator GINN OCHERs, drawing the right arm back as she did. A solid punch to the head shattered the suit's mono-eye and crumpled the armor housing surrounding it, effectively taking out the GINN's main camera and optics. Before she could continue the attack, the other GINN leveled its autocannon at her MS' back and opened fired, but Ryoko had expected it to happen and really didn't care. The only result of the attack was the ping-panging the bullets made against the Noir's VPS armor.

When Ryoko turned the Noir to face that offending GINN, she couldn't help but inwardly laugh at how the GINN took two steps backward. "It must be frightening when your guns don't work anymore." she muttered, anger and venom welled into her voice. After what the bastards did to her grandfather and this town, the thing furthest from her mind was sympathy for these people, and although she couldn't take her wrath out on all of the bandits, she could at least take out the remainders. Deciding it was time to try her other weapons out, she had the Noir's arms reach up to its wings and withdraw both of its MR-Q10 "Fragarach" large beam blades, which immediately straightened out and ignited in a fiery pink flash.

If the mere sight of the Strike Noir had only frightened the GINN pilots, the sight of the Gundam hold two oversized beam blades downright terrorized them. The OCHER again brought up its machinegun to fire, only Ryoko could tell this time around it was an act of pure desperation instead of aggression. Not that it mattered, as she had her suit run through the bullets without slowing down. Once she was above the OCHER, she made a long diagonal cut that went from the right shoulder, through the cockpit and then out the left hip. The GINN didn't detonate though; instead, through the power of the "Fragarach", the entire upper torso slid off the cut and fell onto the ground while the legs remained standing.

The other GINN at this point, seeing its partner dead, attempted to rectify the situation by stabbing the Strike Noir through its back with its heavy sword. Ryoko could have let the sword hit the VPS and shatter, but she had enough at that point; in a quick twist, the Strike Noir slashed across the GINN's chest, making it fall back and explode once its battery reactor detonated.

With the last two of the bandits dead, now Ryoko could focus on who she wanted most: Johnny himself. The Strike Noir turned to face the CGUE, which like the OCHER before it was backing away little by little, its shield vulcan raised in a would-be act to hold the Noir at bay. Ryoko opened a private channel to the CGUE, so that the other Gundam pilots wouldn't hear. "Looks like it's just you now Johnny."

"Ry…Ryoko?" Johnny muttered, not so high and mighty now. Inside he was cursing himself for turning a blind eye toward that MS all these months; the only reason he let Ryoko keep it was because it kept her in line and gave her something to work on in her free time, something he never expected to fix though. And now that decision had come back and not only bit him on the ass, but dug in deep and sucked out all feeling.

Ryoko's response was a small, chilling laugh. "I just want to know before you die, how does the irony feel? Knowing that you're about to be killed by the girl you tormented all this time."

"Stop it! Stay away from me!" Johnny cried out, no longer trying to hold his bravado. He opened fire with the CGUE's shield vulcan for effect. But as with the other GINNs, the Strike Noir simply marched through the bullets as they ping-panged against its armor. And then the shield vulcan ran dry, leaving only the CGUE with its heavy sword against the black knight. "Why…? Why is this happening to me!?" Johnny shouted in denial, making the CGUE back away with each step the Noir took toward it. "Why!!" The CGUE then turned around entirely and flared its thrusters, jumping into the sky.

Of course Ryoko was going to let him escape, not after all he did. Putting power into her own thrusters, the Strike Noir took flight after the CGUE, closing at a speed that the ZAFT mobile suit couldn't hope to outrun. As she came upon the CGUE, she crossed her beam blades together like a pair of scissors and closed them around the fleeing suit's waist.

The last thing Johnny saw, much to his great horror, was Ryoko's suit closing in for the kill, to which he cried out in denial of his fate. And then with a flash, the CGUE was divided in half around the cockpit, its pilot being vaporized by the intense beams, and both halves falling harmlessly into the town streets below.

The Strike Noir, on the other hand, landed harmlessly only a few meters away, kneeling to absorb the recoil. As the mighty suit landed in a kneeling position, beam blades held on either side, Ryoko looked back at the CGUE wreckage with a mixture of disdain and relief on her face.

"Burn in hell, bastard." she muttered.

* * *

"And that's game…" Virgil said, grinning as he saw the CGUE get cut in half, the enemy pilot getting what he deserved. He waited for a moment for the Strike Noir to land and get back up before he spoke up again. "Looks like we're done here Gabriel, we'll contact our friend and…" That's when he noticed the Blu Duel stepping forward, its twin green eyes flaring. "Gabriel? What's wrong?"

Gabriel Zola didn't respond at first, he couldn't. At the moment, he found it difficult to breath, and his eyes became almost permanently fixed on the image of the Noir. One would also notice a curious vein throbbing in his head. "Virgil…" Gabriel managed to mutter. "That suit's pilot… is a coordinator."

_Oh no. _Virgil thought. "Are you sure?" he pretended to be confused, although he knew what Gabriel meant.

"Damn sure. No natural can pilot a mobile suit like that." Gabriel snarled in hate, as if he were reliving a past experience. The hate was clear in his voice. "I'm going to put it out of its misery!"

"Wait, Gabriel!" Virgil tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The Blu Duel took to the air with a mighty thruster assisted leap. In midair, it drew one of its beam sabers out and bee-lined straight toward the Strike. The Noir pilot however, just noticed his approach and brought up one of the suit's beam blades as Gabriel lashed out with his saber, clashing against the energy blade.

The black mobile suit threw the Blu Duel back, which Gabriel took the opportunity to draw and ignite his second "Hrunting" as the Strike charged. Both mobile suit's exchanged slashes from either of their melee weapons, but neither came close to damaging the other. The Strike Noir slashed, the Blu Duel parried, and in turn the Blu Duel thrust toward the cockpit, which the Strike Noir easily dodged. But if one were watching the fight closely, one would notice that slowly, the Strike Noir was repelling Gabriel and his mobile suit, almost as if the pilot were using Gabriel's aggression as an advantage.

"Bastard!" Gabriel roared, realizing he was being pushed back. Now he truly knew that the pilot was a coordinator; Gabriel knew he was clouded with rage, but he wasn't such a rookie that he'd let himself get sloppy in the middle of a battle. And yet each cut with either of his beam saber was parried or dodged, almost to the point where they weren't being taken seriously. And while his attacks were being deflected easily, he was having a harder time keeping up with his opponent's attacks; in fact, he was sacrificing a lot of his energy just to keep it from cutting at the Blu Duel.

And then the Strike Noir pulled an unexpected move: it made a solid kick into the Blu Duel's torso with enough force that the Gundam fell flat on its back. When Gabriel attempted to bring his mobile suit up, the Noir stamped its right foot on top of its opponent's torso. Its prey stuck firmly to the ground, the black mobile suit re-attached its beam blades to its wings and reached for one of its beam pistols.

Gabriel could only glare up at the black mobile suit defiantly. "Unnatural piece of…" was all he got out before an outside force intervened.

As the Noir was about to draw, Virgil had the Verde Buster thruster jump right in front of the mobile suit, drawing its attention away from the Blu Duel, signaled by the shifting of its head to face the artillery MS. But before the Noir could take any action, the Verde Buster fired its right shoulder gun launcher. The M89K "Kaempher" 350mm gun-launcher, a cannon that had been feared since the days of the First War, fired a single round square into the Strike Noir's gut, specifically into the cockpit.

The result was the Noir flying back into the street, with enough force against it that it skidded across the ground before it came to an abrupt stop.

Virgil knew how strong that cannon was; although due to the Noir's VPS it didn't suffer any physical damage, he knew the force was enough to make the pilot slam his or her head against either the seat or the control panel and black out from the resulting concussion. Judging by the fact the Noir didn't attempt to stand back up after a few moments, Virgil saw that it had worked.

He moved the Verde Buster over to the Blu Duel and reached out with his right hand, which the Blu Duel took.

"Why didn't you use the Jaeger!?" Gabriel seethed, referring to the M201S "Jaeger" 94mm high-energy beam cannon mounted on the Verde's left shoulder. "That would have killed the bastard!"

"Precisely." Virgil said. "I didn't want to kill him."

"Why not!?" Gabriel was almost flippant.

"Because he wasn't on our hit list." Virgil replied, then opening another channel. "Virgil to _Odyssey_, all targets eliminated, but we've lost the old man and possibly the granddaughter. Move in for evac."

The reply didn't come right away, probably due to the information sinking in. "Very well Virgil. The captain wants to know how Mr. Aizen died." The woman on the other side said.

"He was killed before we got here, shotgun to the chest. There was nothing we could do." Virgil replied, a little disappointed himself.

"And the younger Nagato?"

"Unconfirmed."

"Very well. We'll proceed to rendezvous."

"Roger. Be informed we're bringing a guest with us: a mobile suit and its pilot, so make room. Virgil out." Virgil then signed off.

Gabriel snarled at that last part, then peered down at the immobile Strike Noir. "You mean we're taking that thing with us?" he sounded agonized at the thought.

"Yeah, the mobile suit may at least be worth something." Virgil said as the Verde Buster moved toward the black Gundam-type. "Besides, there's something bothering me about it…"

And thus the journey begins.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	4. Phase 03: The Odyssey

_"I've always been fascinated with the renegade. Pirates, brigands, bandits, assassins... they come in many forms but possess one signature trait: a rebelliousness to all forms of order. Sometimes I'm rather envious of that, and that says alot coming from the Supreme Chairman of the PLANTs."_  
- Gilbert Durandal

**Phase 03: The Odyssey**

_**Ulysses**_**-class land battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Somewhere in Northern Australia  
April 27th, CE 101**

It was quite a curious sight. Moving across the Australian Outback at a steady pace was a strange object that definitely wasn't part of the environment. It was gray and dagger shaped, possessing strange markings across its form, and seemed to glide across the desert like the wind itself. The local wildlife all wisely stood out of the object's way, for it was quite big and made of metal. And above all else, it was a human created machine.

To the casual onlooker who knew anything about ships, this particular vessel looked like a _Spengler_-class assault carrier that was once used by the now defunct Earth Alliance. However, whereas _Spengler_s were oceanic warships, this one seemed to be geared more toward land warfare. For instance, it had a lengthened hull with the bow sloping downward toward the end into a sort of blade-like "wedge" which made the ship more geodynamic since it could literally cut across terrain. On either side of the midsection, specifically right under the bridge tower was a pair of wing struts, which bent downward on either end to become nacelles, in the style of a trimaran. It's apparent from these features that these parts of the vessel serve as Scale Engines, the same propulsion systems used by old ZAFT land warships to travel over terrain with the ease of motion of a snake, which explained how this vessel could move across the Outback without any hindrance. Other than that, the other features that stood out about this vessel were the three "Gottfried Mk. 71" 225cm dual high-energy beam cannons it possessed: two mounted on the upper sides of the wing struts and one mounted toward the aft, just behind the bridge on top of the carrier deck. Besides those things, it looked and acted like a regular _Spengler_.

This was the _Ulysses_-class land battleship _Odyssey_. It had been constructed almost thirty years ago during the First Bloody Valentine War as the Atlantic Federation's attempt to counter ZAFT's _Lesseps_-class land battleships and _Petrie_-class land cruisers, since the Earth Alliance as whole lacked an effective land warship design and at the time the Atlantic Federation was paranoid of ZAFT invaders reaching its borders from the then occupied parts of Eurasia, Africa or Australia. Originally it had been designed strictly as a combat vessel, but midway through when the Earth Alliance began plans to produce its own mobile suits, the _Ulysses_ was redesigned, along with its _Spengler_ relatives, to serve as the first Earth MS carriers. Just like its original design, it could hold up to six mobile suits, as well as any optional fighter aircraft, which while not as extensive as other land ships was still a formidable load. All in all the _Ulysses_ certainly would have been a well proven design in the war, but fortunately or unfortunately depending on one's point of view, ZAFT never reached the North American continent and shortly after the battlefield shifted to space anyway, so no ships of this class had ever seen combat.

As for this particular _Ulysses_, nobody knew when or how the _Odyssey_ had ended up in the hands of a band of renegades, but its crew all looked at her as a tough ship nonetheless and a home of sorts. The general attitude was as long as they took care of her, she would take care of them in return, and the fact she was in pristine condition showed how well the crew had performed in that function. That or how "motivating" the ship's commanders could be in getting people off their asses and to work.

On the _Odyssey_'s bridge, things were fairly lax at this time. Neither the Captain nor the XO were there, symbolized by the empty command chair. So the bridge crew took the opportunity to relax and do their own things while still keeping to their duties, somewhat anyway. The helmsman, for example, continued to guide the ship across the desert, but his mind wasn't so much on where he was going than it was on how he was going to get a woman at their destination. The communications controller herself was filing her nails, the sensor operator was reading a comic book and the fire control officer was smoking a cigarette while thinking to himself. As if to add to the laxness, hard rock music was playing over the audio system, much to the annoyance of certain crew members.

"Ugh, can you turn that shit off already? Any more and I'll be hearing that singer in my nightmares." Simone Walker, the young communications operator with shoulder length red hair and vibrant blue eyes spoke as she looked up from her nails with a cringe.

"Fuck off Simone, this is a classic." the fire control operator Jackson Bragg muttered, rolling his eyes. He was a large man with plenty of scars on his face and arms, which all reflected on the fighting he'd seen in his lifetime.

Simone rolled her eyes. "Just because it's old as the average crap pile doesn't mean it's a classic Jackie. I can only imagine how much pain the AD era Germans went through listening to this 'Rammstein' over and over; even May can't stand the lead singer, and she speaks the same language."

Jackson took his cigarette out of his mouth and turned to glare at Simone. "Didn't I tell you not to call me Jacky?"

"What, does 'Jackie' sound too condescending for you, Mr. Heavy Metal?" Simone said snidely.

"It's a girls name, and I ain't a girl!" Jackson replied almost threatening, as if he were going to physically harm Simone if she didn't shut up.

"Not this again…" the helmsman, James Seddon, could only help but roll his eyes. He was a tall man with black hair, dull brown eyes and generally an easy going, unenthusiastic personality, but even his limits could be pushed. "Can't you two settle this like 'civilized' adults? And by 'civilized', I mean somewhere off the bridge as to not to annoy your crew mates?" the rest of the bridge crew muttered in acknowledgement of Seddon's request.

"Fuck you Seddon." Jackson said off-handishly. "We don't need your…"

"Enough!" came a shrill and dominating voice from the back of the bridge. Walking up from the doorway was a young woman of mid-twenties with dark green hair, which she wore in a long ponytail, and matching green eyes, which were making a piercing glare at the occupants. She was really attractive, but her hardened nature seemed to counter any male interest in her. As well, unlike the casual dress code of the crew, the woman wore a military uniform of all things; in fact, it was a female Earth Alliance uniform with Lieutenant rank markings. Although it was quite obvious the woman was too young to ever be part of the now non-existent OMNI Enforcer, she still had the kind of professional and efficient aura to her that was usually found in military officers.

Almost immediately when she entered, the radio was switched off and everyone on the bridge suddenly found something to do at their stations. The woman herself moved past and came up next to the command chair, all the while shifting her gaze between Simone and Jackson. "Miss Walker, Mr. Bragg, neither I nor the Captain have any tolerance for childish bickering, especially when it's during your duties. I suggest you take Mr. Seddon's advice and find a civil way to end your argument, or both of you will have to find another ship."

"Fine, fine." Jackson muttered, waving her off as if he didn't care. In reality, he just didn't want to get into a match with the green haired woman, as she just happened to be the _Odyssey_'s Executive Officer. "She started it though." He said as one last line.

Simone looked astonished. "What-? What do you mean you tone deaf son of a…"

"I said enough!" the woman barked, silencing Simone in mid-sentence as well as casting a cold glare toward Jackson, who despite having his back turn, felt the gaze at full force. With that done, the woman promptly sat down in the captain's chair. "How long until we reach Carpentaria?"

"Just another day." Seddon replied, slowly turning the helm to alter course. "Assuming we don't run into any problems on the way. You know how raiders like to roam around places like this."

"If that happens, we'll just deal with them in kind." Lynsie Schneider, the _Odyssey_'s XO replied matter-of-factly.

"I know that ma'am, but it will still slow us down all the same." Seddon pointed out.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "I realize that Seddon, but it's a necessary evil if the time comes. Just concentrate on keeping her steady."

"Right ma'am." Seddon acknowledged, though he still wasn't comfortable on the idea of running into raiders.

"And with that said, are there any contacts Mr. Rosser?" Lynsie turned toward the man at the radar station.

There sat Nathan Rosser, who was the youngest person on the bridge at the ripe age of seventeen, and was easily distinguished by his short brown hair and boyish face. "No contacts ma'am. Radar is clear."

"Well that's always good to hear." Came a new voice from the entry way. Almost every head, including Lyn's, snapped to the entryway even for a brief second to see the new comer.

There stood a large older man, somewhere around his mid-sixties, that like Lyn was dressed in an old Earth Alliance uniform, but his had notable black highlights and the rank markings of a Colonel. As well, he also wore the original officer's cap with his uniform and a dark gray greatcoat that had seldom been issued to ship commanders during the wars years ago. Besides his uniform, he had thick dark gray hair that came into a full beard, blue eyes that once had a youthful tone to them and orange tinted glasses that he wore over them. This was all topped off by a silver tipped swagger stick that the man always seemed to have at his side.

It was quite obvious that this man was the _Odyssey_'s commander, and unlike Lyn, he was a veteran who had probably seen too much in his lifetime, as one got the impression if looking into the man's eyes. Lyn immediately looked up at attention. "Captain, what are you doing on the bridge at this time?"

"It's my ship, isn't it?" the Captain retorted with some amusement. "And I can't run it entirely from my office, so I make it a point to come to the bridge once in a while."

"If you say so sir." Lynsie replied a little sheepishly.

"I take it everything is where it should be then?" the Captain inquired. "Nothing on the sensors? Radio? Any sign of life out there besides us?"

"I think I saw a few dingos running in the distance earlier sir." Seddon answered the Captain's question offhandedly.

"And there was a flock of birds on the radar before you came in Captain." Nathan said. "They seemed to be flying northwest. Other than that, as I told Lyn, radar's clean."

"Very well, I will be in my office. Keep me posted." With that, the Captain turned and began to leave the bridge.

"Wait, sir. There's one more thing that I'm sure is on everyone's mind." Lyn spoke up, causing the Captain to stop and look back at her curiously. "Did you have anything decided about Mr. Nagato's granddaughter?"

The bridge went silent at that very moment, leaving the hum of the ship's engine as the only sound to be heard. This was a touchy subject for everyone, as even though it hadn't been confirmed yet, rumors had already spread that Ryoko Nagato was a coordinator. This led to mixed reactions among the crew to say the least, with some wanting to sell her off to the slave trade, with others wanting to simply kill her in her sleep, since she had been in her concussion induced coma for nearly three days straight now. Even more found the prospect of a coordinator working on the ship to be appealing, but the Captain wasn't the type to shanghai people into his service.

For the most part, the Captain had been able to keep opinions of the matter to himself, since one decision either way could disorient the efficiency of the crew. He looked at Lyn with all the seriousness in the world. "No, I have not made any decisions yet. Everything will be decided when she wakes up and only then, is that perfectly clear?" he said, speaking more to the bridge crew in general than Lyn, since the Captain knew she would back whatever decision he made.

Lynsie herself acknowledged. "Of course sir, I was just verifying."

The Captain nodded. "As you were then." He then disappeared behind the automatic sliding door.

* * *

With his business on the bridge concluded for the time being, the Captain made his way through the corridors of the carrier until he came to the doorway to his office. The door automatically slid open, and the Captain passed into the office without any hindrance. When he was in, he let himself relax a little more, knowing that he was alone for the moment. Being the commander of what was essentially a modern day land crawling pirate ship wasn't the easiest job in the world.

There wasn't anything special to describe about his office. It was of standard design and architecture found on Earth ships, ie gunmetal gray, somewhat spacious and otherwise designed for efficiency more than comfort. However, as the _Odyssey_ was no longer a military vessel, the Captain tried to make it as personable as possible. The most notable addition was an antique oak desk that had replaced the original metal one, with a big leather chair placed behind it and two smaller guest chairs in front of it. Red carpeting had also been put down over most of the metallic surface of the floor, if anything just to add some much needed color to the room, and a leather bound couch had been placed on one side, both as additional seating space for guests/clients and as a makeshift bed for when the Captain needed a short rest. Other than that, his desk had a flat monitor computer placed on it, and there were several pictures adorning the walls, mostly of old military bases and warships from years past.

Taking all this in, the Captain walked over to his desk and sat down, relaxing against the leather chair. Casually, he looked over one picture on his desk, which depicted the Captain during his youth, evidenced by his clean shaven face and dark blonde hair, standing next to a man with long blonde hair in a black version of the Earth Alliance uniform, customized with a cape attachment. Probably the unique thing about this man was that he was wearing a helmet-like mask over his head, totally obscuring his eyes and most of his face, while giving off a smirk at the camera.

A buzzer at the door put the Captain back to reality. "Come in." he said off-handedly.

The door slid open to reveal Virgil Reneghan, who entered the office with a datapad underneath his left arm. The Captain took notice of this and looked up. "What do you have?" he asked.

"Just Doc Winter's medical report." Virgil said, handing over the datapad. "It's official now: Miss Nagato is a coordinator."

The captain looked over the report and nodded. "Not surprising. She did manage to destroy three mobile suits with ease."

"If anything it will make the rumors go even further. You may have to address the whole crew in an 'official announcement'." Virgil shrugged.

"Again not surprising." the Captain said. "What about her mobile suit?"

"May is still looking at it, but she hasn't been able to find a black box or anything that would tell us where that mobile suit's been. The inner mechanics are similar to the Blu Duel and Verde Buster, if that tells you anything." Virgil said, as if hinting to something.

"They just keep popping up, don't they?" the Captain replied wistfully. One could almost see the memories appearing in his mind's eye. "Those Gundams…"

"I am curious. What do _you_ think of Miss Nagato?" Virgil inquired, his smirk forming at that question.

The _Odyssey_ commander looked and blinked, not understanding what Virgil was implying at. "What kind of question is that?"

Virgil laughed a little. "Don't be modest, it's just the two of us here, and we've been friends for a while now. I know she's the granddaughter of a dear friend of yours, but even you feel uneasy about having a coordinator on your ship."

"If I wanted her dead I would have had her killed by now, if that's what you're implying." the Captain shot back.

"Heh heh, no that's not what I mean. I want to know what you yourself think about her, and I know you've had some ideas despite what you keep saying to the crew." Virgil again sounded as though he were hinting at something else entirely.

The Captain arched an eyebrow. "And what makes you think I have?"

This time Virgil looked him dead center. "Because you used to work for shady people that hated coordinators to the highest degree Ian."

Captain Ian Lee let a small 'heh' at the sound of that. The Verde Buster pilot did have a point, with his once being part of the 81st Autonomous Mobile Group, better known as "Phantom Pain", but he wasn't going to admit that. "I've never really had any hate for coordinators; they were the enemy during that war and I was doing my job, simple as that. Not that you're one to talk Virgil, considering your past 'hobby'."

Virgil also shrugged. "Touché, but at least I never worked for any SS groups that were run by the Illuminati."

"Alright, you want to know?" Lee said, deciding to just answer Virgil's question before he got irritated. "If there's anything bothering me, it's the effect Miss Nagato is having on my crew. But as Aizen's only granddaughter, I'm still making it my obligation to look out for her, especially now that Aizen is dead." He frowned. "When she wakes up and is able to move on her own, we'll probably drop her off at Carpentaria and let her go on to wherever she wants from there. But that's assuming she comes to by tomorrow."

Virgil rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know Ian. Carpentaria isn't the best place to leave a young girl all alone in the world."

"When we get into range, I'll send word to Eisley to look out for her. He owes me one as it is." Lee explained, though getting curious about Virgil's words. "Why so concerned? And don't say you want to keep her around."

"Why not? From what little I've seen, she does have talent as a mobile suit pilot, and her Strike Noir is a high quality suit at that. To tell the truth, I really wouldn't mind having her on the team." Virgil said, wistful.

"Wouldn't that cause problems with Gabriel and his xenophobia?" Lee asked.

"That's one of the downsides, but it won't be too much of a hindrance." Virgil said, as he continued to speak his thoughts. "Think about it Ian: a coordinator pilot with her own Gundam in your service. Sure, she may not be Kira Yamato or Athrun Zala, but it would open up a lot of doors and opportunities for us, not to mention get us through firefights easier."

Lee took that in and thought on it. Another mobile suit to his ship would be useful, but he still wasn't quite sure about the effect of Ryoko's continued presence among his crew. And at the same time he didn't want to make any decisions for the young girl, so he decided not to think about it for the time being. "You already know where I stand on this Virgil. I'm not changing my mind."

"Yeah, yeah, 'wait until she wakes up before we decide to keep her or throw her to the big bad world'. I get it." Virgil rolled his eyes. Seeing that there wasn't much else to talk about, he turned on his boot heel and started out the door. "You know if you keep acting like this Ian, you'll turn into the stereotype grumpy old man that plays shogi and gripes about 'the youth of today'."

Lee just gave him a matching smirk. "I'll take that as a compliment; it means I haven't turned into one yet." He waved him off. "Tell me if anything else happens."

* * *

"Heh heh, I can't believe how lucky we are brother! A true blue coordinator and a hot girl of all things." spoke the smarmy voice of a wire thin man from across the table. The man was talking to his oppositely massive and silent-to-a-fault young brother who just sat there and let his elder ramble. "I bet she looks good in leather. Yeah! Tight black leather that hugs the hips and exposes everything…" the thin man thought, the image in his head making him drool.

On the opposite end of the table in the _Odyssey_'s mess hall, Gabriel did his best to try and ignore the thin man by concentrating more on his WonderSwan portable video game system and the latest Super Robot Wars game. However, even he had trouble filtering out the voice of the thin man, especially since he was going on about a very controversial subject matter.

These two were the Hughes brothers; the thin and elder one being Kenneth Hughes and the massive yet younger one been Brendan Hughes. Like Gabriel, they were both mobile suit pilots, evidenced by their matching pilots jackets that held various emblems stitched into the sleeves and breasts. What made them discernable was all in their forms and personalities. Brendan had a matching large head with flat cut black hair, eyes that always appeared to be closed and a somewhat impassive expression, while Kenneth had a mule-shaped face, thin eyes, a disgusting looking mound of equal black hair and a mouth that always seemed to be open. As well, unlike Gabriel they weren't Gundam pilots, but were rather members of the _Odyssey_'s Windam team.

At the moment though, Gabriel would have loved nothing more than to slit Kenneth's throat and watch the blood drizzle out, if anything just so he would shut up. Ever since he and Virgil had opened the Strike Noir's cockpit only to see Ryoko Nagato on the pilot's seat, almost everyone on the ship had been talking nonstop about her and how she was possibly a coordinator for three days. The only other thing that was just as much talked about was how she fought Gabriel to a corner and almost killed him, as if Gabriel's pride wasn't damaged enough.

_Bad enough to lose, but to a coordinator of all things and having to live it down over and over…_ Gabriel thought disgustedly, trying put even more focus into his WonderSwan. He still couldn't get the shock he felt at seeing Ryoko, the girl he had met only hours earlier, in the cockpit of the Strike Noir and knowing what she was. It was probably a feeling Gabriel would take to his grave. _Unnatural scum…_

"So Gabriel! You saw her right? Isn't she quite the looker?" the thin, mule faced one and elder brother Kenneth egged on.

Gabriel knew Kenneth was doing this intentionally just to piss him off, since everyone on the ship knew of his hate for coordinators. Sure, for most of the crew it was the first time anyone had seen a coordinator in over twenty years, but although Gabriel hadn't lived that long, he had seen their kind in his lifetime, and he had all the reason in the world to hate them.

"Eh, I've seen better." Gabriel said without looking up, trying not to indulge the elder Hughes.

"Heh heh, I just love women! Almost as much as they love me." Kenneth failed to notice Gabriel rolling his eyes at that last part. "So tell me more about her. How old is she? What's her cup size? And do you think she would look good in leather?"

Now Gabriel was getting annoyed, enough that he looked up from his WonderSwan. "How the hell would I know any of that? Actually, no, _why_ the hell would I even care?"

Kenneth looked at him with disappointment. "Alright, fine. But what about her mobile suit? Quite a piece of hardware isn't it?" Kenneth laughed. "You should take it for yourself, it's probably a million times better than what you got now."

The young pilot shook his head. "Forget it. The Blu Duel is my mobile suit and I'm not trading it in for anything a coordinator would pilot." He turned back to his game, hoping it would end there.

Kenneth, however, took that as a sign of disrespect. Sliding over to where Gabriel was sitting, he moved his face over his shoulder, to the point where he could have breathed down his neck if he wanted. Gabriel frowned, trying his best to ignore him.

"Come on Gabriel. Who cares if she's a coordinator; a woman is a woman, don't you think so?" Kenneth almost whispered into his ear. "You should take advantage of her now while she's still sleeping; you might not get a better opportunity."

"Get away Kenny, now." Gabriel warned. "This isn't a battle you want to fight."

"Hell, it might even take that stick out of your ass, sleeping with a coordinator..." Kenneth continued.

That mere thought was enough to make Gabriel snap. In a fluid motion, he slammed his elbow into Kenneth's face, knocking onto his back on the floor. Brendan immediately bolted up and moved to defend his brother, who quickly stumbled back upright as Gabriel himself got up. Kenneth held his bleeding nose and glared at Gabriel. "You bastard! You actually hit me!"

"And then some." Gabriel said, drawing a butterfly from one of his cargo pants pockets. With a practiced hand, he flipped the knife open and revealed the concealed blade. "So what now guys? Want to play for keeps?" he challenged. "I'm in a pretty fucking bad mood right now…"

"How about you try that shit with me?" enter a new contender. Gabriel looked at the doorway to see a tall man, wearing the same jacket as the Hughes brothers, leaning against the side of the doorway with his arms crossed. He was well built and could have been considered handsome with his well portioned face and red hair which was tied back in a ponytail. However, his dark red eyes always seemed to be leering, which ended up intimidating more women than attracting. The man eventually got up and walked into the scene, his glare cast down on the somewhat shorter Gabriel all the way.

"Come to stand by your team, eh Thomas?" Gabriel sneered at the man. "Or do you want to go at it one-on-one?"

Thomas Kurtz, leader of the Windam team, didn't seem intimidated by Gabriel's challenge. "I'm not interested in fighting you, brat. I just want to break this up so Kenneth doesn't end up in sickbay again."

"That was only once in a…" Kenneth tried to counter.

"Shut up!" Thomas bellowed, immediately silencing his subordinate. "You're decent pilot Kenneth but a crappy fighter, so if you get hurt and lose your ability to pilot your Windam, then that leaves one less pilot for my team. And I hate not having a full team." The tone in Thomas' voice made his statement more of a threat than anything else.

Inwardly, Gabriel grinned at the degenerated look Kenneth was giving, as he could never take criticism from his boss well. "So what now then?" he asked Thomas.

"It should be obvious even to you whelp." Thomas came up until he was standing right in front of Gabriel, his head looming over the smaller boy's. Gabriel in turn looked up at him with a matching scowl. "My boys and I will keep to ourselves and you keep to yourself. But if you so much as blink in our direction, I'll kick your scrawny ass so hard you'll end up at Carpentaria long before this ship does."

Gabriel let out a 'heh' at that ultimatum. "You're making me piss my pants Thomas. Really." he replied with all the sarcasm in the world.

"Don't make me repeat myself." That statement made, Thomas gestured his men to move back to their seats, with him joining them, while Gabriel returned to his.

Picking up his WonderSwan again and starting back on the game, Gabriel couldn't help but realize at that point that he had been gunning for fights lately. Usually he would have shrugged off comments like what Kenneth and Thomas had just made, but now he willing to take all three of them on, with a knife in hand even. He summarized it was because of his inner turmoil at Ryoko Nagato; it was hard to embrace the dark truth about someone who had otherwise left a big impression on you.

_The sooner we get her off this ship, the better._ He thought bitterly, as he made the PTX-003C-SP1 Alteisen Reise perform an Avalanche Claymore attack on a hapless enemy.

* * *

"Hurry up with that thing! We're burning daylight hours here!" May Kauwin, chief mechanic for the _Odyssey_ bellowed to her workers. She was a "mere" fourteen year old girl, that like everyone else in the hangar, she was dressed in an orange and tan mechanic jumpsuit which had been standard back in the Alliance's day, although underneath she wore a pink t-shirt and her black hair was tied into a small ponytail with a pink bow; not the kind of thing you usually found on mechanics. But she still got the job done. "_Befördern deine esel jungen_!" she yelled in her first language, German accent prevailing.

As soon as she gave the command, the mechanics in her crew all doubled their effort, moving to reattach the Blu Duel's right arm to its body. In fact, the whole hanger was a hive of activity as technicians and mechanics went about their work of maintaining the _Odyssey'_smobile suit units, but still remaining organized and diligent. May prided herself in running a tight shift with her mechanics.

"Busy as ever Chief?" asked one of the mechanics who had walked up to her. He was a muscular man seemed seven feet tall, notable for his perfectly shiny balled head and deep voice.

"You noticed Austin. Good for you." May said smartly to the mechanic, Austin Baytes, who was essentially her right hand man. She gestured toward the Blu Duel getting its arm reattached. "I finally get a break from turning that black Strike upside down and all but ripping out its hardware, and what happens? That idiot Zola comes down and says that his suit's right arm's been acting weird, so we've been at it almost all day trying to find what the problem was." She huffed.

"What was the problem?" Austin wondered cautiously.

"Nothing we could find. It's probably some bug in the OS, but since we don't have programmer onboard, there's not much I can do about it." May said, the frustration evident in her voice. "And Zola's attitude hasn't helped either. I still want to know why Virgil and the Captain gave the Blu Duel to that _dummkopf_."

"It's a mystery." Austin said with a sigh. Even though he agreed with his boss that Gabriel was a pain in the ass, he knew better than to question the decision to give him the Duel, as aside from Virgil he was arguably the best mobile suit pilot on the ship. However, he also knew better than to inform this to May, lest he end up on the receiving end of one of her temperament. "Speaking of the black guy, is there anything else you want to do with it?"

Upon Austin changing the subject, May turned and looked toward the back of the hangar. As the ship was based on a _Spengler_-class hull, the hangar deck was narrow and all the MS present were placed straight down, divided by catwalks between them. After its recovery, the Strike Noir had been placed in the back of the hangar, with the Blu Duel and Verde Buster placed toward the front. Further back behind the Noir were the Phantom Pain vintage black GAT-04+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Windams that made up Kurtz's team.

"I don't think there's anything we can do with that suit without dismantling it. And we can't do that without the Captain's permission." May explained, almost sounding disappointed. She really wished she could "look under the hood" of that machine further.

"At least it's a high quality mobile suit. We don't get many of those these days." Austin said matter-of-factly. "Should be worth a lot of money too."

"Don't get carried away Austin," May replied sternly, casting Austin an all-too-serious glare. "Our job is to tinker with it and see if there's anything special, not sell it off."

"Right, sorry Chief." said Austin, again doing this to avoid getting on his boss' bad side. Then one particular detail entered his mind and he looked back at May with a serious glance. "Do you think it was built by the people at Actaeon as well?"

May frowned at that, thinking. "More than likely, it's way too similar to the Verde Buster and Blu Duel not to be. Which makes me wonder why nobody there has bothered mentioning it to us..." She sighed, still frustrated that in three days they had found next to nothing about that particular suit. "I swear when we get onto North American turf, I'm going to rip that bitch Samantha Roanoke a new one for leaving this out of the picture!" she declared.

Austin rubbed his forehead a little. "You'd have to get around the Captain first for that. And what makes you think she knows anything Chief?"

"It's an Atlantic suit and a Gundam, isn't it?" replied May, as if pointing out two key facts. "That means she's going to know something."

"If you say so Chief," replied Austin, although he wasn't going to place any bets on it himself. Even though he couldn't place his hand on it, there was just something about that black mobile suit that separated it from the Buster and Duel. It was probably his imagination, but Austin liked to believe that he had been around mobile suits long enough that he could tell the little differences between them, even if they did come from the same place. That being said, he knew May would have more than picked up on it too; she was probably making her own conclusions at this point…

"Watch out!" called out a worried voice.

The sound of metal falling on the ground snapped both May and Austin out of their collective thoughts. May turned back toward the Blu Duel and scowled at the mechanic that had been working on the shoulder armor of the mobile suit, as he had just accidentally kicked his tool box off. "Bronson, you dumbass, watch it up there!" May yelled. "You could have hurt someone on the floor!"

"Sorry Chief!" Bronson called back, clearly embarrassed. He immediately started climbing down the Blu Duel's shoulder to retrieve the tool kit.

May shook her head at that, sighing. "_Durch Gott im Himmel_." She cursed in German, which she usually did when extremely frustrated. "…I could have apprenticed as a bridge builder back in Hamburg, but no I wanted to be a mobile suit mechanic and see the world. With these idiots, I'm starting to think that wasn't my best decision Austin." she muttered to herself, then glanced up to her subordinate once again.

Austin closed his eyes and nodded. "I know the feeling Chief."

* * *

Ever slowly, Ryoko Nagato felt her eyes begin to slip open. Her head throbbed somewhat from a strange dull pain, and it took several moments for her eyes to focus on the light shining above her. Naturally, she didn't know where she was, although the feeling didn't hit her until moments after she had woke up.

_This does_ not_ look like the town clinic._ She thought, leaning up a little and looking around the room she was in. It was definitely either the medical ward of some kind, but as she thought, it wasn't like the one in the town. Everything was far more high tech here, and the room was white and spotless almost to an obsessive level from the cleaner. She saw white, beds and equipment everywhere, among many things she didn't recognize. Everything was also clean and pure, not a hint of dust anywhere.

She wondered how she got here, and upon that line of thought her memory did a massive rewind to what she last remembered. She flashed through Aizen's murder again, and although it gave her a cold, depressed feeling inside, she had shed her tears over it before and decided to move on. Then she remembered getting on the Strike Noir and slicing Johnny in half, all before that blue mobile suit attacked her out of nowhere. At the time, she didn't ask questions as to why it attacked her; she just fought back and put it into a corner. The last thing she could recall was her drawing one of the Noir's beam pistols to finish off her opponent when that tan and green mobile suit with the big guns leaped into the scene and shot her with some cannon. She had instantly blacked out.

But that still didn't answer where she was, and that began to make Ryoko feel a little panicked. Judging the mechanic 'hum' she was hearing sound softly around the room, she was more than likely on a ship of some kind, and this was the vessel's sickbay. The problem was she had no idea how long she had been out, neither did she know what had been done to her during her unconsciousness; her mind began to think up several worst-case scenarios.

Quickly, Ryoko looked underneath the sheet that had covered her, and automatically feeling her body grow chilled. _What is this!?_ Her mind bellowed. Looking down her body, she found she was only dressed in a bra and panties, and there was no signs of her other clothing around the room. And although she didn't feel any pain from her lower regions, Ryoko had heard enough horror stories from women around Stirling that you don't always feel it when you're unconscious, and one could very well wake up without feeling any signs of violation. Ryoko shook her head at that line of thought.

_Calm down Ryoko, you can deal with that later. Right now, you've got other things to worry about._ She told herself. _Like where you are and how the hell you're going to get out of here._

As soon as she thought that last line, she heard the door slide open. Without thinking, she grabbed for the nearest object beside her bed, which happened to be a metal tray across the room just as the person entered. The main idea was to either knock the intruder out instantly or to incapacitate him long enough just so she could beat the crap out of him and then make her escape.

However, what she didn't count on was the intruder to be so fast that he casually tilted his head to avoid the flying tray, which slammed against the now closed door with a metallic bang.

"Good, now I can skip your reflex testing." the intruder said in a matter-of-fact tone, as he picked up the tray and placed it on a nearby counter. It was hard to tell whether he was being dryly sarcastic or actually serious.

"What the hell did you freaks do to me!?" Ryoko demanded, as she rushed to cover half-naked body from the man. "And you better not try anything now that I'm awake _hentai_!"

"'Hentai'? As in 'pervert'? That's very rude from a young woman like yourself. As to what has been done to you, you received was treatment for the blow to your head and a bit of a physical, nothing at all that would damage your body." the intruder said, still matter-of-factly. It was pretty obvious the man was a doctor; he was of the thin stature with notably delicate looking hands, dressed in white lab coat with a green dress shirt and light olive slacks. As well he had light gray hair that didn't seem to be a product of age, equally pale eyes that he wore squared rimmed glasses over and a goatee that actually made the man appealing.

"You're a doctor?" Ryoko asked. Usually she would have doubted it, but the man did know what he was talking about. He even understood her Japanese, which wasn't common knowledge these days.

"Correct Miss Nagato. I am Dr. Cameron Winter and you're currently in my sickbay." Winter said, now moving closer to the bed. His patient was still defensive though "You suffered from a grade five mild traumatic brain injury or MTBI that was enough to render you unconscious. This coupled with heightened adrenaline levels and an apparent state of shock and stress, kept you dormant for three days time, so that your body could relax itself and bring those levels down to normal."

Ryoko could only blink twice.

This made Cameron sigh and push up the rim of his glasses, as if he were trying to explain something to a five year old. He got that a lot. "In other words, you were hit with a concussion and knocked out for three days."

_Three days? That's longer than I wanted._ She thought but made sure not to say aloud. "And for some reason I had to go through a physical?" Ryoko said, again look down at her semi-nude body under the sheet.

"It was my task to determine if you had suffered from other injuries during your ordeal, namely gun shot wounds or bruises. As well, I was also given the task to determine what exactly you are..." Winter explained.

"English doctor." Ryoko told him mid-rant.

Again, Winter sighed. "Right. I had to analyze your body and see if you were a natural or a coordinator."

Suddenly Ryoko felt a cold hand tighten around her heartbeat. "And your conclusion…?"

"The same as those who saw you in battle, you are a coordinator." Winter said, this time sounding a little more human. One could almost hear some concern in his voice.

Ryoko felt herself gulp. In truth, she had known she was a coordinator for almost all her life; her grandfather might not have been that open about her background, but he didn't hold back on telling Ryoko that she was physically different from the people around her. Because of the conflictions it could have potentially caused back at Stirling, they had both made an extra effort to keep it a secret, although sometimes Ryoko had lost control and done things that ordinary humans couldn't do, namely punch through buildings or beat offenders severely. Nothing that would have made people suspect though.

But now it looked like that secret was out, and Ryoko was in no way sure how she would be able to live by that. Reluctantly, she continued to ask questions. "How many people know about this?"

Winter gave the young girl a skeptical look, as if she had asked a very stupid question. "Rumor has been spreading around this ship since you came here. You'd be amazed by how many people have come by to see you; for most it was their first time seeing an actual coordinator, living or dead."

Ryoko's expression returned to a glare. "They better not have molested my while I was asleep." She said, more as a warning to the doctor. It was his sickbay after all.

"Hardly. I am a doctor, not a barbarian, and therefore possess a strict policy against sexual harassment against my patients." Winter said, again pushing up the rim of his glasses, although this time the light reflected against them and gave off a lens glare.

"Alright, I'll take your word for it." Ryoko replied, putting her knees against her chest under the sheet. She thought for a second about her next question. "Since we've established who you are and what I am, can you answer 'where am I'?" she asked as she looked up.

"Ah yes, I was curious to see if you would ask that." the doctor said as he moved to a nearby chair and sat down. "This is the _Odyssey_, a _Ulysses_-class land battleship formerly of service to the Earth Alliance, specifically the Atlantic Federation. At this time it is run freelance, but rest assured you're in safe hands."

"_Odyssey_ huh?" Ryoko thought out loud. She considered the name as well as its meaning and symbolism. "Pretty name."

"I thought so myself when I first came aboard." Winter acknowledged.

Another question came to Ryoko's mind. "Any idea where we are going?"

"Last I heard, we are en route to Carpentaria, the former ZAFT basin. Like almost every other ZAFT built installation on this planet, it has come under the service of renegades and criminals, but Captain Lee has a contact there." Winter explained, appearing unfazed by when mentioning 'renegades' and 'criminals', although one could imagine what he thought about all this. "We will be there long enough to resupply and then will go on our way."

_Lee?_ Ryoko remembered that mercenary, Virgil, mention the name to her grandfather; he was the man who was going to get them out of Stirling. She looked down from Winter, remembering her grandfather again and the accompanying feelings of sadness and guilt that she made it this far and he didn't. _Was it really those two…?_

Once again, the door slid open to reveal yet another newcomer, this one more familiar to Ryoko. The man entered the room with the same grin he seemed to always wear.

"At last, she awakens." Virgil announced, seeming a little too happy. "I was beginning to think I used too much force with that shot."

Ryoko wasn't sure what he meant at first, but then she recalled the cannon shot that knocked her out. Coincidentally, the throbbing sensation in her head keyed up again. "So that was you. I should break your legs for that."

"Well, you were about to kill my wingmate, even he was being a dumbass for attacking you out of the blue." Virgil replied.

Before Ryoko could counter that, Virgil turned to Winter. "Is she fit to be moving around yet Doc?"

As he replied, Winter reached up and caught hold of his glasses' frames with his right index finger and thumb, fixing them a little. "I have found nothing that would prevent her from doing so. But next time I also would prefer it if you used significantly less force Virgil. That concussion could have been especially critical had…"

Virgil just waved him off. "Yeah yeah yeah, details details." He muttered, as he looked at Ryoko suggestively. "You should watch out for this guy Ryoko; despite what he says, he's the biggest pervert of all of us."

The good doctor reacted in by tensing up, shock and mild anger present over his expression; apparently Virgil had hit a vital part. "How _very_ crass. I am a doctor, and therefore I'm supposed to have a great fascination for anatomy!"

"And we call that 'perversion' Doc." Virgil replied with bemusement.

The only response Winter gave to that was again pushing the frames of his glasses up to make a lens flare and giving a short but forceful "Hmph!" After which, he stormed off to another part of the sickbay.

Inwardly, Ryoko snickered at watching the rather stuffy doctor march away, before turning back to Virgil. "So what do you want with me?"

"Ah that." Virgil said, straightening out a little. "First let me reintroduce myself. My name is Virgil. Virgil Reneghan, the _Odyssey_'s mobile suit team commander." He gave a bow for dramatic effect. "As for what I want, it's not what I want; Ia… er, I mean the Captain wanted to see you when you woke up, so if you'd kindly come with me…"

He reached out to take Ryoko's arm and pull her up from the bed, which resulted in the blanket shifting just enough to reveal her bra. Immediately Ryoko let out a yelp, slapped the hand away and covered herself again.

"Oh, sorry." Virgil held up his hands apologetically, although he did not look away.

"Like hell!" Ryoko shouted at the mock-sincerity.

"No really, I didn't know you were still like that." Virgil said, shrugging. He pretended to look up in the air, as if thinking. "On the other hand, if I were a horny teenager…"

"Where are my clothes!?" Ryoko demanded.

"Assuming they weren't stolen to force you to wander the ship in your underwear, they're probably in that locker." Virgil smartly pointed to a locker on one side of the room.

"Then wait outside, I'll be with you in a minute!" Ryoko stated, her full attitude returning in full swing now.

* * *

It had been hours now since his conversation with Virgil, but Ian Lee continued to sit in his office to collect his thoughts. It's true he could have retired to his quarters or have gone to the mess to get something to eat, but at this time Lee was content to simply to lie back in his chair and listen to "The Ballad of Serenity" by Sonny Rhodes. It was an ancient piece of American southwestern music, but fitting considering the environment and condition of the world around him.

'_You can't take the sky from me'… I like that part the most._ Lee thought, reflecting on the irony. Despite the lyrics, Lee felt that was exactly what was taken from him years ago…

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, making him pry open his eyes in irritation; he didn't like interruptions while listening to music. Looking up, he was about to tell the person on the end that he didn't want to be disturbed, but then something stopped him and told him to go ahead. Turning off his music player, he looked back up. "Come in."

It didn't surprise Lee to see Virgil strut in again for a second visit; what _did_ surprise Lee was coming in beside him was a young oriental woman that was dressed up in a biker outfit. "Hey Ian, look who just woke up." Virgil said. Although it wasn't obvious, Virgil had a suggestive tone to him; obviously referring back to his earlier conversation with Lee.

Lee took the opportunity to look Ryoko over quickly. It looked like she wasn't sure what to think at this point other than to just follow along with Virgil, so she was acting more subdued compared to how Virgil and Gabriel had described her before. He nodded. "Miss Nagato, it's good to see you awake and about." He said, intending it as a small ice breaker. He rose to extend his hand. "I'm Captain Ian Lee, at your service."

"An honor Captain." Ryoko exclaimed taking the hand.

Immediately Lee took note of the firm grip she had over his hand. _She's definitely a coordinator._ He thought. "We have a lot to go over, so please, have a seat." He gestured to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

Ryoko hesitantly took a seat while Virgil moved to lounge on the couch at one side of the room. This made Ryoko feel a little alone and isolated since her impromptu guardian had moved away from her, even if it was only a small distance, but she sucked it up as Lee continued.

"I trust you're aware of the recent events?" Lee asked.

"Yes, my grandfather hired your team to get us out of Stirling Valley and wipe out our 'management' at the same time." Ryoko answered.

"Not 'hired' necessarily, more along the lines of 'recalling a favor'." Lee's expression turned apologetic. "I knew your grandfather from a long time ago; he was really a good man. And although it might not amount to much, I am truly sorry that we didn't get there fast enough."

Ryoko looked away a little, as the image was still fresh in her head. "It's not your fault." She replied. "Johnny and his gang found out about the plan long before. There was nothing you could have done."

"Still a shame though." Lee concluded, deciding now was the best time to change the subject. "But now let's move onto the more relevant agenda. Do you have any plans on where you go from here?"

Ryoko shook her head. "No. To tell the truth I have no idea what to do now."

"What about any outside contacts? Perhaps family or friends in other places of the world?" Lee asked.

"_Ojii-sama_… I mean my grandfather was the only family I had, and I never stayed outside Stirling long enough to make friends." she thought for a minute. "Thinking back to that night, grandfather probably had something planned after we got out, but since he's dead…"

"That leaves you in a fix." Lee concluded.

The young girl nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

Lee took off his glasses and rubbed his forehead a little. "Well, for the time being I'll allow you to remain on my ship. Right now we are en route to Carpentaria for supplies, we will be there in the afternoon tomorrow. From there you will be able to find transportation to anywhere you'd like to go, so that gives you the night to think it over."

"What about my mobile suit?" Ryoko asked earnestly. "You're not going to take it away for 'down payment', are you?"

Lee let himself chuckle a little bit at that, slipping his glasses back on. "No. I already have plenty of mobile suits, and from what I've been told you have quite a history with that model, so the Strike Noir is yours to keep."

"Thank you." Ryoko said with gratitude. It was after all the only real prized possession she had left. "Is that all?"

"For now. Until tomorrow, the _Odyssey_ is your new home so feel free to look around. I've also had some quarters prepared for you; Virgil will show you the way." Lee glanced over to Virgil, who let out a 'heh'.

"I appreciate it." Ryoko said, getting up. Virgil got up with her and showed her out, leaving Lee alone in his thoughts once more.

Turning his music back on, Lee leaned back in his chair again and once more collected his thoughts. And once again he thought on irony; years ago he never thought he would end up giving aid and comfort to a coordinator.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	5. Phase 04: Perpetual Motion

_"Despite what high command wants me to think, it won't be long before mobile suits become another staple of humanity. Sure, we look at things like the GINN now and can't help but be marvelled by its performance, but somewhere down the line you know it's going to end up like the automobile, television or Ak-47. Hell, by that time, I'll probably have five in my garage just to attact girls."  
_- Mwu La Flaga

**Phase 04: Perpetual Motion**

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Somewhere in Northern Australia, en route to Carpentaria  
April 28th, CE 101**

Since yesterday, Ryoko's time on the _Odyssey_ hadn't been too eventful. Virgil had taken her on a tour of the ship before they finally settled on her assigned quarters, going from the mess for a quick snack, a workout room, a pilot's lounge and then much to Ryoko's disbelief a hot spring, which was really a compartment flooded with steaming hot water. From then on she had spent the rest of her time in her quarters, going through her belongings and at least trying to make plans on where she would go after she was dropped off at Carpentaria. She hadn't managed to come up with anything though, and only ended up falling asleep some time later.

Now newly awakened, Ryoko had decided that she would check up on her mobile suit above all else. She had only made one stop before for a quick breakfast in the mess, coming in at a time when there was barely anyone there thankfully, and after that she set out to find the _Odyssey_'s hangar deck.

The sound of machinery was something she was both used to and not used to; growing up in a glorified repair shop, Ryoko was used to machines. What she wasn't used to was so many of them being used at once, much more the large amount of commotion from the mechanics. As she walked, Ryoko could feel eyes turning to look at her from any given direction, and she couldn't help but feel like an exhibit of some kind, much to her own annoyance. But she ignored the gazes and continued to look around.

After walking across the catwalk and going down the line of mobile suits, she finally came across to the Noir, which once again colored gunmetal gray since the Variable Phase Shift wasn't active. Subconsciously, Ryoko scanned across the Noir's armor for any signs of denting or displacement, but she found nothing. It amazed her how powerful VPS armor was; there wasn't a single scratch anywhere on the chassis despite how she took full machinegun bursts in the earlier battle. Any other mobile suit would obviously have been chewed apart by the shrapnel.

"Excuse me!" she heard a voice snap her back to reality. Ryoko looked over to the direction of the voice, and much to her surprise, her eyes came across a young girl that was barely into her teens, but all the same dressed in the orange and tan overalls that the other mechanics were wearing. "I'm not sure if you've noticed, but this is a work zone; either you're here for a reason or you're not here at all." the girl said in a snide tone that didn't befit her age.

Ryoko wasn't sure if she was seeing this right; a little girl on a ship like this, as a mechanic among all these big burly men? _Either she's a prodigy or Captain Lee must be having recruitment problems._ She figured. "No reason. I came to hijack one of these Gundams and start my own war. For a blue and natural world."

"That's funny. Let me guess, you're the coordinator lady everyone's been talking about. I had a feeling you'd come down here after you woke up." the girl said, nodding. "I'm May Kauwin, chief mechanic."

"Ryoko Nagato." Ryoko answered. "Aren't you young to be a mechanic on a ship like this?"

May reeled as if Ryoko had said something insulting. "No more than you being young for a mobile suit." She said dryly. "Unless _Kapitän_ Lee says otherwise, I'm in charge, so don't screw with me."

It didn't take a highly observant person to see this was a touchy subject for the girl, but then Ryoko knew the feeling. She decided to change said subject. "Does that also mean you've been taking my machine?" she looked up at the Noir again.

This seemed to make May even more agitated. "You don't trust my work?"

Ryoko smiled at her a little. "I've been around mobile suits since I was a child, so I can tell how well a machine's been maintained by first glance. Looking over the Noir, I think you did a good job."

That left the girl silent for a moment, clearly unused to praise from strangers. Ryoko took the opportunity to continue. "Back at Stirling, I tried to apply for your job, but Virgil told me you were one of the best out there."

"'One of the best' is an understatement." May said, bouncing back with a prideful grin. "I am _the_ best."

"Hm." The older woman arched an eyebrow at that claim, but didn't say anything against it. Instead, she walked over to the cockpit area with May following her. With a turn of the knob, she opened the cockpit, climbed in and sat on the pilot's seat, then folding the keyboard out. After a few minutes of typing, she looked up again. "So, how did you end up all the way out here on a ship like this?"

"What, I don't match the profile for a mercenary?" May replied sarcastically, leaning against the walk's rail in front of the open cockpit so that she was facing Ryoko as she worked. "It wasn't very hard; the _Odyssey_ needed a chief mechanic since the last one was a complete _dummkopf_ and I didn't want to end up as a bridge builder."

Ryoko looked up, confused. "Bridge builder?" she let out, wondering if it was some kind of slang.

May laughed at her confusion. "I was born and raised in Hamburg, Germany, in a family of bridge makers. My father and uncle were engineers, my brothers were workers and my mother a mathematician. Add the fact that most of the city's bridge network was destroyed during Break the World and I had my whole life in front of me." she said cynically.

"I take it you didn't approve." Ryoko replied amidst her work.

"No shit." May replied back as if it were obvious. "What fun are bridges? When you understand the basic physics of it they're no challenge since there are no moving parts or inner mechanics. Now mobile suits, those are fun to play with. So many different parts, so many functions… I can't get enough of them."

That was something Ryoko herself had to smile at in agreement. "Then the great Captain Lee came and rescued you from your doomed path in life?"

"Like anything is that easy." May said sarcastically again. "I ran away and hid in a box after I got into a fight with my dad. Two days later, somebody opens the box and the next thing I know people are debating whether I be dropped off or sold as a child slave." The girl said that last part off-handishly, as if it were nothing. "Thank god that my predecessor was a _dummkopf_, as said before, and the _Kapitän_ is an understanding man, even if he was from the American."

"He doesn't seem like a bad guy. Know anything about him?" Ryoko asked, having developed some curiosity surrounding the man.

"Not much." May replied, looking at her nails absently. "He was obviously a military man and a vet from the Wars, but nobody knows what he did during. The only ones that seem to know something are Virgil and perhaps Lyn, Lee's _nummer zwei_, but they're not talking. I think you're better off not asking; knowing deep dark secrets tends to make more enemies than friends."

Inadvertently Ryoko sighed at that. Since Captain Lee had been acquainted with her grandfather, she thought if she could catch hints of Aizen's background by knowing some of Lee's, but no such luck. She decided to drop it and continued working.

However, May wasn't about to be silent. "Now it's your turn. How'd you end up with this thing?"

"Don't know, it just sort of wound up in my grandfather's workshop." Ryoko answered. "No one came to claim it, and I just lost a mobile suit, so it became my new friend."

Now it was the mechanic's turn to be confused. "It just 'showed up'?" she looked up from Ryoko to the Noir's head, and then shook her own in disbelief. "Nobody, and I mean _nobody_ just abandons a unit like this in the middle of nowhere! Why don't you tell me the truth."

Ryoko looked over, unsure if May had just insulted her. "Are you calling me a liar?" she asked calmly.

At that point, May realized what she had said; her eyes widened and she held up hands in surrender. "No no no! I'm just telling you, this suit is worth more than anything you'd find out here, so it's hard to think some _arschloch_ was stupid enough to leave it behind."

"I never really pondered it. People disappeared everyday in that town." Ryoko said, disdain evident in her voice. With a few final clicks, she finished her latest round of adjustments and folded up the keyboard. "That takes care of things here." she said, getting up and closing the cockpit behind her.

"You know, now that I think about it, this was my first time talking to a coordinator." May said.

Ryoko eyed her carefully. "And…?" she asked, hesitation and warning evident.

The chief mechanic noted that but ignored it, just shrugging. "I don't see why everyone's so freaked out. You're pretty cool Ryoko, but don't tell anyone I said that. I have an image to keep."

The mobile suit pilot was about to ask her what she meant when suddenly a loud bang sounded from down the hangar, or at least a bang that meant somebody screwed up. This was followed by the sounds of sparks flying. As if a switch had been flipped, May turned full force and looked down the hangar to three men standing next to the said power generator that went off, eyes full of intensity.

"_Du idioten_! _Ich drehe meine rückseite für fünf minuten nur zu…_" she launched off in full German to the three men, all sporting worried expressions, while others watched the event like they would a train wreck.

Ryoko just blinked, utterly confused at May's sudden transformation. As she watched May continue to chew out the men, she thought back to her previous encounters with Virgil, Gabriel and Doctor Winter respectively, as well as their antics.

"You really picked strange people to rescue us _Ojii-sama_." she muttered into the air.

* * *

On the _Odyssey_'s bridge, Ian Lee sat forward on his captain's chair, his eyes glued to the front of the ship, with Lyn standing next to him to do most of the command work. If one took a closer look to his posture, one could see that Lee was actually leaning against his swagger stick, his fingers absently drumming a little on the tip; a sign of edginess that was rare in the captain indeed, which was why the crew were acting a little more professional than usual.

The cause of Lee's irritation wasn't clear, but he suspected that it had to do with their approach to Carpentaria. It felt just like yesterday that Carpentaria was one of the primary ZAFT installations on the planet which fueled their invasion force with supplies, equipment and manpower that were transferred from the PLANTs themselves. Sure, it had changed hands, and Lee had been to the basin many times before, but that didn't mean Lee felt any more comfortable waltzing into what had once been the lion's den. And besides that, there was a sinking feeling within the veteran's stomach, a feeling he got whenever something was off base; the first time he had gained this feeling was at the ZAFT weapons depot PLANT of Armory One. Lee had learned to trust this feeling ever since.

Still, the rest of the crew were fortunately oblivious to Lee's inner hunch despite the captain's outward appearance; to them it just appeared that Lee was impatient, even if that was uncharacteristic. Even Lyn, who had been around the captain longer than most of the crew, seemed to ignore the captain altogether. Although she herself had undoubtedly formed her own conclusions, Lyn was the type of person who would suppress her own doubts in front of everything else present, if only to keep a working atmosphere. Lee always respected that part of Lyn, but wasn't surprised by it as she had been a military officer herself before she came aboard the _Odyssey_.

The silence was soon cut short as the hatch to the bridge slid open, revealing Virgil and Gabriel. The two Gundam pilots walked onto the bridge casually, although their presence did cause some eyes to shift.

"What are you two doing up here?" Lyn asked Virgil as moved up on the other side of Lee's chair, so that the Captain was directly between them.

"We wanted to see the mountains come up from the background, and the best view is here on the bridge." Virgil explained. "Any idea how much longer?"

"Should be anytime now." Lee replied calmly.

"The sooner the better..." Gabriel muttered to himself as he leaned against the bulkhead in the back of the bridge.

Lee ignored the comment like everyone else that heard it and leaned back in his chair. It was then he realized what was bothering him. "Have you detected any contacts?"

The sensor operator shook his head. "Radar's clear Captain, as it has been for the past three days."

"Strange. Doesn't Eisley usually keep a few scout suits out here?" Lyn asked.

"Usually, just so he can have them meet up and either escort or chase away incoming ships. But there hasn't been so much as a pack of dingoes out here." Lee pondered. He supposed the current proprietor of Carpentaria could also have deployed a high altitude AWAC mobile suit to track visitors, but those types of MS were rare and hard to come by. That and the said unit would undoubtedly have signaled them by now.

"Maybe he's gotten lazy; this isn't exactly the most active place on Earth, and he doesn't get that many customers from this end of the continent anyway." Virgil suggested. This time, he casually moved his arm and leaned against the Captain's chair, almost too casually.

Lee himself didn't mind, knowing Virgil's nature, but it irritated Lyn to enough degree that it was visible. "Don't you have something better to do with your time Virgil than hang out? Isn't there something wrong with your Verde Buster you should check on?"

"If there was, May would have fixed it by now." He replied slyly, smirk growing as he saw how much he was irritating the XO. "And besides, no there isn't anything better to do with my time. In fact, I think it's perfectly worthwhile to stand here on the bridge and watch everyone else work like dogs under your watch, don't you?"

One could swear Lyn's face was turning an interesting shade of red. Lee himself suppressed the urge to chuckle; although irritating that he was literally between the two, the exchange was still amusing. Of all the people on the ship, Virgil was the only one that could make Lyn swell like that; the rest outright feared her too much to try.

"If they don't work, then the ship doesn't move, and if the ship doesn't move, that means we're stuck. And that leads to no jobs and no pay, much less for you. Understand? Or is it too hard for your whimsical brain to comprehend, Reneghan?" Lyn stated almost threateningly. Long winded, but she wanted to shoot the pilot's statement down early before things got too ugly.

However, Virgil took it in stride, pretending to inspect his nails as she went on. After she finished her sentence, the pilot's head snapped up, as if in surprise. And then in mock astonishment he proclaimed, "Why Lynsie, that's not something you should say to your fiancée!"

Suddenly, every head on the bridge except Lee's turned to face the executive officer, all wearing expressions of shock and amazement. Lyn herself changed from red to bright white, anger being replaced by embarrassment and confusion at the claim before anger all over again. "I'm not your fiancée asshole!!"

"Oh, well…" Virgil rubbed the back of his head, as if he had forgotten that detail. "Would you like to be?"

And with that, laughter exploded all around. Lee let it go on for a few moments before he tapped his swagger stick on the metal floor. "That's enough. Get back to your duties."

After Lee saw everyone calm down and get back to their work, he closed his eyes and let out a frown. "And as much as I enjoy the married couple routine, we have a schedule to keep you two."

"Apologies sir." Lyn replied, professionalism returning, although she still looked ready to deck Virgil at the given chance.

Virgil didn't acknowledge; he was pretending to inspect his nails, ignoring the contemptuous glare Lyn was giving him. Lee took that as a good enough response and leaned forward again.

"If they didn't see us earlier, they should now and we're in communications range." Lee muttered as he looked forward. By now he could see the outline of the mountains that surrounded the Gulf of Carpentaria appear from the horizon and grow at a steady rate, with the base itself on the other side. And with the mountains, his gut feeling was also getting more intense; something was wrong.

He turned to the communications station. "Simone, send a short-range burst and see if anyone's listening."

"Yes sir." Simone Walker acknowledged, hitting a few buttons on her console and then reaching up to her headset. "Carpentaria, this is battleship _Odyssey_. Please respond. Repeat, this is battleship _Odyssey_ on approach from your southern quadrant. Please respond."

After a moment, Simone turned back to Lee. "Sir, I'm getting a transmission from another channel."

"Put it on the monitor." Lee ordered, raising an eyebrow. All attention turned to one of the ceiling monitors, which flickered online to reveal a face.

However, when the face appeared, Lee felt as though a cold hand had reached out and grabbed his heart. He recognized the man on the screen, but it definitely wasn't who he was hoping for. This man had a thin face, beady eyes, thinning brown-gray hair and a scar running down his cheek; all points that made the man look more like a rodent than a human being.

Lee furrowed his brows at the man. "Dan Noachim." He muttered almost in a growl of disgust. Yet another proverbial thorn in his side that he didn't need.

Almost everyone on the bridge froze at the mention of that name. The man in question was particularly well known to them; he was the leader of Dan's Destroyers, a group of mercenaries that were well known for their excessive brutality and ferocity. It was also known that when they weren't getting paid for a job, the Destroyers would spend their free time marauding towns and villages like barbarians, both to make up for the lack of cash flow and for sadistic amusement.

"Well, how do you do Lee? Fancy runnin' into you." Dan replied sarcastically with a serpent's smile that rivaled Virgil's. "But that's fine. Oh yes."

"What are you doing in Carpentaria?" Lee demanded.

"Not much. Just living it up. Here look at this…" Dan rubbed his chin.

Ned then lifted up an object into the screen: a knife that was covered in dry blood stains and pieces of skin, apparently fresh. Half the bridge about gagged at the sight, but Lee didn't react and neither did Virgil, Lyn nor Gabriel for that matter.

"This comes from a guy named Eisley; he didn't like us coming onto the base, so the dumbass actually tried to fight back, made things harder. It took us a few minutes to kill all of his bodyguards, but then I was so pissed off, I actually skinned him alive." Dan stated, putting the knife away. "I hope he wasn't a friend of yours Lee."

Lee didn't benefit Dan with a retort to that. In truth, Eisley wasn't particularly a friend of his, but the _Odyssey_ commander still felt remorse at the manner that he died. What Lee was more concerned about was Dan's surrounding; if he didn't know any better, Dan was in a mobile suit. He looked over to the helmsman. "Helm, bring us about and take us away from the gulf."

Dan laughed at that. "Oh come on, you've come all this way, surely the least you can do is let me drop by for a sit down!"

"I want nothing to do with you." Lee replied, glaring.

"That's too bad Lee, because I want everything to do with you. You'd be surprised at how many people want you dead, and how much they're willing to pay for it." Dan smiled maliciously. "But go ahead and run; it'll be interesting to see how far you get before me and my dogs chase you down and rip you apart!"

Ned finally signed off after that. But no more than seconds later, the radar operator called out in alarm. "Incoming mobile suits from the air! DINNs and units mounted on Guul sub-lifters!"

"How many?" Lyn demanded.

"Twelve confirmed, possibly more!" the radar operator replied in horror.

"An aerial attack, eh? No way of outrunning them…" Lee muttered, looking to Virgil. "How would you feel about answering Dan's challenge?"

"Do you have to ask?" Virgil answered slyly, but then moved to a more serious question. "But is this going to be a retreating battle Ian?"

It took Lee only a second before he answered and that was to tip his cap a little to show he was serious. "If that cut-faced sadist wants a fight that badly, then I have no intention of turning around."

"Sounds good." Virgil replied, cracking his knuckles and his neck. "Gabriel and I will go out first. Send Kurtz's team to join us after." He told Lee, as he made his way to the hatch. Gabriel also got up to join him.

"Aren't you biting off more than you can chew Virgil? We don't even know how many there are." Lyn called out, her earlier feelings pushed aside for a concerned expression.

"Yeah, a group of fodder mechs against two Gundams. That's a toss up." Gabriel replied in full sarcasm, giving Lyn a dirty expression.

Lyn would have reprimanded the boy for that comment, but this wasn't the time. "Fine, good hunting." she said.

Both pilots took that as their cue and dashed off the bridge. At the same time, Lee picked up the communications receiver from the side of his chair. "All hands, level one battlestations! Repeat, level one battlestations! We have incoming hostiles from Carpentaria. Gunnery crews to stations; stand by to fire on command. Verde Buster and Blu Duel are to launch immediately!"

Lyn followed in his example and started giving orders to the bridge crew. "Combat speed! Arm Gottfrieds one and two and all close in weapons, then load the missile tubes with 'Wirbelwinds'. We're going to plow through these bastards!"

* * *

_An attack? Now?_

Ryoko Nagato had made her way back to her quarters to get her things together for her departure when the announcement rang throughout the ship. Immediately at Captain Lee's utterance of "level one battlestations", she heard a general alarm sound and the footsteps outside begin to pick up outside as everyone dropped what they were doing and ran to wherever they were supposed to go. For a moment she had her door slide open just a little bit to see how the laid back atmosphere of the _Odyssey_ suddenly switched over to high tense one.

After seeing what she needed to see, she closed the door and went over to her bed, where she had placed the duffle bag with her all possessions, as well as the G136 assault rifle she had taken with her from Bradley at Stirling Valley. Ryoko was about to take them down to the mobile suit bay and load it all up in the Noir, but it didn't look like she was going to get off the ship any time soon.

"This is bullshit…" Ryoko muttered as she flopped down on the bed and stared up the ceiling. Not that it mattered whether she got off or not, as she still had no idea where she would go from here. And for some strange reason, she found herself not too willing to leave the _Odyssey_ in the first place. There was just something about the ship that she felt attached to, like a twisted form of Stockholm Syndrome. Or she was just that afraid of having to step out into the world…

All the same though, Ryoko hated sitting around during a battle, even if it wasn't really her fight.

* * *

In the distance, one could begin to see the silhouettes of several objects heading right toward the _Odyssey_ at high speed, like a swarm of metal locusts coming from the green mountains into the desert. As the shapes grew closer, the two metal gates to the land battleship's starboard side slowly folded outward, revealing the insides of the hangar deck and the waiting mobile suits it contained. Once they were completely folded out, conveyors on the ramps started up, moving the Verde Buster and the Blu Duel to the outside. Their VPS armor soon activated, turning their gray frames to blue-gray-white and tan-green-red individually.

"Virgil Reneghan, Verde Buster, launching!" Virgil called out after his systems all checked out, then kicking the thrusters onto full gear and jumping off the ramp in a mighty leap.

"Gabriel Zola, Blu Duel, let's do this!" Gabriel called after him, putting power into the Blu Duel's thruster assembly as well and then hurtling out as well to join its partner in the distance.

Immediately after touching the ground, both mobile suits hovered across the desert floor with their thrusters, moving much faster than either suit's running speed would allow. A few seconds later the _Odyssey_'s two main "Gottfried" cannons started firing, sending neon green energy bursts into the oncoming swarm. The beams weren't likely to hit, as the cannons had been designed for use against enemy ships or bases rather than smaller targets like MS, but they would at least cause the incoming suits to falter in their advance.

"I don't suppose you have any special plan on you." Gabriel looked over to his comrade's mobile suit, wondering.

"Not really. Dan's henchmen are reckless but they're only decent pilots at best. Use that to your advantage if you can." Virgil replied.

"No need to state the obvious Virgil." Gabriel replied, a small smirk forming on his face. "On the other hand, it's been a while since we fought this many. This could be fun."

Virgil didn't fail to notice Gabriel's newfound enthusiasm. To anyone besides himself, it would have been disturbing to see a teen with that much bloodlust, but then Virgil knew his partner was no ordinary teen.

But the mobile suit pilot didn't dwell on that too much. By now they were almost into range, and one could begin to depict the mobile suits apart; each one was customized to fit their individual pilots' tastes, so even if they were the same type no two suits were exactly alike. The only common feature they all shared was the storm gray colors and the right shoulder pauldrons being painted red, both being Destroyers standard.

Without missing a beat, Virgil targeted a unit, a DINN that had an enlarged right shoulder plate, complete with spikes. "Alright, let's do what we do best Gabriel." Virgil said, his own anticipation rising.

"With pleasure." Gabriel replied with equal enthusiasm.

It did not take more than a few second for the Verde Buster and Blu Duel to fire their individual guns, the Buster using its "Kaempher" gun-launcher and the Duel using its M443 "Scorpion" mobile railgun. Immediately the DINN and a Guul mounted GINN both went up in flames from the two shots. Realizing that their adversaries were crack shots, the enemy group scattered in different directions, obviously in an attempt to flank the two incoming mobile suits, while the ones with the long-range guns or missile launchers opened up. The Gundams began to weave in and out to avoid the oncoming assault, neither pilot having to put up much effort as their enemies were firing at them without aiming precisely.

Soon the rest of the enemy suits had moved in close enough to use their machineguns, which erupted at the two incoming suits like rain. Gabriel continued his attack nonetheless, switching from his railgun to his "Walther" beam guns. While not as good of a shot as his partner, the Duel pilot was still good enough to shoot down aerial mobile suits from ground level, and easily blew off a DINN's left leg. He would have finished it off, but his monitor flashed a warning of an oncoming attacker.

"Irritating little flies." He muttered, as he saw a CGUE suddenly beeline at him. Again he kicked his suit's thrusters into high gear to avoid the oncoming mixture of machinegun shots, shotgun bursts and missiles, while taking pot shots with his beam guns. The CGUE pilot was actually fairly decent, managing to avoid being shot while countering with the suit's shield vulcan, not that the bullets had any hope of puncturing the Duel's armor. Gabriel dodged right to avoid the CGUE from barreling into him. But that's when the opportunity came for Gabriel.

Twisting the Blu Duel around at a speed that would make most mobile suits fall over, at the same time having the Blu Duel's shield and "Scorpion" railgun swing upward, Gabriel locked onto the CGUE's Guul flight unit and fired a single projectile. The round blew through the Guul easily, forcing the CGUE to abandon it nano-seconds before the inevitable explosion. As the CGUE fell to the ground, Gabriel lined up a second shot and fired. A moment later, the slug flew into the mono-eyed suit's back and through its cockpit, killing the pilot and making the CGUE itself fall face first to the ground, effectively dead.

But Gabriel couldn't relax yet, as the DINN he had been shooting at before dive bombed at him, most likely to get revenge for its missing leg. It rained down machinegun and shotgun fire, as well as several missiles in a relentless assault on the white and blue mobile suit. _Shit._ Gabriel clenched his teeth as he zig-zagged the Blu Duel around the enemy fire. He countered with his beam guns, but he didn't get any hits. _Looks like I pissed you off friend._

Instantly putting more power into his thrusters, Gabriel had the Blu Duel fly into the air; although it wasn't a true flight capable mobile suit, the Gundam's high powered thrusters allowed it to make extremely high 'jumps' and even stay airborne for some time. With a quick flick of his mobile suit's arm, he withdrew a "Stiletto" from its left shoulder rack. In return, the DINN flew straight at the Blu Duel, pumping shot after shot at the Gundam with its MMI-M100 190mm anti-aircraft shotgun. Gabriel weathered the shrapnel with his shield, and when he felt the time was exactly right, he twisted his shield away and threw the "Stiletto" straight into the DINN. It exploded into raining debris not long after, the Blu Duel landing some distance away.

Gabriel's sensors were picking up more mobile suits heading at him now, to which he flashed an excited grin at. _This is MUCH better than three days ago._

That line of thought made his mind flashed back to Ryoko Nagato once more, and the humiliation he had suffered from losing to a coordinator. But Gabriel then realized it was little more than an afterthought and it hardly bothered him now. This was the effect combat had on him; whether it cleared his mind of his frustrations or it allowed him to vent them onto his targets, it made Gabriel feel in his place and very much alive. Like Virgil had said before, this was what he was best at.

Still, he didn't let it to his head and disorient him like the combat junkies he was fighting. He reminded himself to keep his bloodlust in check, enough that it empowered him and didn't dominate him. That in mind, Gabriel charged at the oncoming enemy suits, beam guns in hand.

* * *

Virgil meanwhile launched volleys from his "Gewehr" composite beam rifles at another DINN himself, managing to blow off its left arm and then striking a blast into the torso to completely obliterate it. Then a sudden explosion near his mobile suit caused him to jump away from his firing position with a mighty jump. He had the Verde Buster turn around to see the attacker; another GINN, although this one was armed with a M68 "Cattus" recoilless rifle and a pair of "Pardeus" leg missile launchers. Just as Virgil noticed it, the GINN let loose rounds from its "Cattus", as well as a pair of missiles from its leg launchers and several rockets from its Guul.

_Trying to spam me with missiles? That's original._ Virgil thought, disappointed. Even if he allowed the missiles to hit, they wouldn't do that much damage to the Verde Buster, although he doubted his opponent knew that. Nonetheless, he dodged the missiles with relative ease by slipping to the right and letting the missiles impact on the ground. He then counterattacked by firing both "Gewehrs" at the same time, the beams tearing through the GINN's legs, at the same time detonating the remaining "Pardeus" missiles. The explosion engulfed the legs and the Guul itself, as well as sending the upper body flying off. It landed on the ground with a hard impact, hard enough that Virgil figured it either killed the pilot or stunned him, as the suit stopped moving after the landing. He moved for his next target.

The other Destroyers weren't that difficult to contend with either; as Virgil had assumed, they were reckless and had drive, but they all lacked real piloting skills. The main problem was that there were a lot of them and as Virgil evaded another dive bomb from a pair of DINNs, they were beginning to coordinate their attacks rather than go one at a time. Both Virgil and Gabriel had experience fighting multiple targets at once, but it was still a handful for either of them.

A warning soon flashed on Virgil's screen; another MS had a missile lock on him. Quickly he jetted and twisted around to see three more missiles streaking at him. This time he gunned them down with his CIWS and then targeted the origin of the shots, expecting another GINN or DINN type.

It was definitely a GINN, but not the kind Virgil had expected. This one was equipped with heavy armor over most of its body, similar to the extra armor plates on the Blu Duel. The armor also came with extra weapons, namely the gatling cannons mounted on the shoulder pauldrons and the built in "Pardeus" launchers on the upper calf armor. Moving somewhat faster than the MS that fell before Virgil, the ZGMF-1017AS GINN Assault Type swooped down and shot the Verde Buster with a barrage from the said gatling cannons and the 76mm autocannon it held in its right hand.

Virgil was quick to evade, as well as notice the white and blue cobra insignia on the GINN's left shoulder armor plate. "I was wondering when you were going to show up Dan." He spoke over an open channel.

"Virgil Reneghan." Dan seethed as he angled his GINN for another pass. "This is exciting; you don't get many opportunities to kill past legends."

"Better men with better weapons have tried, yet here I am." Virgil replied deftly, avoiding the diving GINN. He then aimed his "Gewehrs" and fired.

Dan was a little better than his minions, so Virgil had a harder time getting a good shot in, but after about two or three missed shots he managed to get a direct blow into the cockpit. That being done, it surprised Virgil when he saw the beam scatter once it hit the Assault Type's torso armor.

"Eh?" he let out, firing two more direct shot into the passing GINN, both of which also scattered. He wasn't allowed to gawk much however, as the GINN once more dive bombed him. Revealing a concealed grenade launcher in its left forearm armor, it fired two rounds down at the Verde Buster, which forced Virgil to go evasive once more. He made two jumps backwards to avoid both grenades, and then cut his thrusters back on to 'skate' away from his adversary.

"That's right, run little man! This armor is highly laminated; it could take a battleship cannon without a scratch!" Dan proclaimed proudly as he gave chase, pelting the dodgy Verde Buster with his gatling cannons once more. The mercenary knew the VPS armor on his enemy's machine would repel the kinetic projectiles, but at the same time he also knew that the power was limited, and that a concentrated attack would drain out the energy. "Even the Demon of Victoria himself can't touch me…"

The next thing Dan felt was a shudder as the Verde Buster at the last possible second turned one hundred eighty degrees and let loose its "Jaeger" beam cannon. The blast hit square into the GINN's upper left arm, which wasn't covered over by the armor, severing the arm and knocking it away as it exploded. This disoriented the GINN greatly, and Dan had to struggle as to not fall off his Guul.

"I'm sorry. Did I interrupt your monologue Scarface?" Virgil said smoothly.

The GINN's mono-eye shifted onto the severed arm, and then back at the Verde Buster, flashing red in anger, especially at the mention of the last word. "_Nobody_ calls me 'Scarface' you bastard…" Dan seethed, ready to renew his assault.

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Virgil replied bemused, all four guns ready. He was going to for blood this time himself.

Just as the match was about to go up another notch, a trio of beam rifle shots blasted into the GINN Assault Type, one of which took a chunk from the ZAFT mobile suit's head fin. Out of the corner of his eye, Virgil could see the GAT-04+AQM/E-A4E1 Jet Windams that belonged to Thomas Kurtz and his team had launched from the _Odyssey_'s stern launch gate and were attacking Dan with indiscriminate justice. Dan returned fire with his cannons, but the three black mobile suits evaded his gatling shots.

"Missiles incoming! All units evade!" Simone Walker's voice alerted from the _Odyssey_. Virgil didn't ask questions, he just had his MS jump back as "Wirbelwind" missiles rained down at Dan GINN. To his credit, Dan managed to dodge the missiles or just let them hit the armored parts of his mobile suit, but the attack was enough to make him back off all the same.

Virgil turned the Verde Buster's head to see the _Odyssey_ itself had moved into firing range at combat speed, firing additional "Wirbelwind" missiles as it did. The anti-mobile suit missiles easily met their targets, managing to destroy or severely damage several enemy suits in the process. One missile managed to take out the Guul and legs right underneath a GINN, putting the MS into a high altitude drop and then exploding when it landed.

"Having trouble with a little GINN, Reneghan?" Thomas said in dry tone from his Windam, clearly not impressed.

"At least I damaged it; you barely nicked the scumbag." Virgil smarted off in return.

"I'm not dead yet peons!" Dan called out as he fired another barrage of missiles from his Guul, one that was meant for both the Verde Buster and the Jet Windam team.

As he dodged, Virgil continued with Thomas. "I'll keep the idiot dancing. You three help Gabriel with the rest."

The Jet Windams' only reply was to fly off and attack the other Destroyers. The GINN Assault Type attempted to chase after them, but Virgil let loose twin shots from his shoulder mounted guns. Both shots intersected the GINN's flight path, and once again it shifted its mono-eye down to the Verde Buster.

"Don't tell me you forgot about me already!" Virgil called out in almost a howl as he fired subsequent beam shots.

Dan visibly cringed as more beams pelted into his GINN. He fired, back but by the time he did the Verde Buster had gone into a dash again, turning their standoff into a running battle. Virgil Reneghan might have been many things, but even the Dan had to admit he was good, arguably one of the best. But despite the skill of his opponent, he still had one more trick up his sleeve, and Dan knew it was the one with the best hand that always came out on top…

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

The _Odyssey_'s "Wirbelwind" anti-mobile suit missile barrage was enough to take out three mobile suits and damage more. Unfortunately this only served to anger the Destroyers, as the ones that weren't engaged with the Blu Duel or the Windams started to attack the ship herself. Lee had commanded the "Igelstellungs" to swat down the oncoming mobile suits and any projectile weapons that they fired, but the CIWS were having little luck in hitting anything. One DINN even came close to dive bombing the bridge, but fortunately one of the CIWS had managed to clip off its left leg and force it to break away.

_That was closer than usual._ Lee thought as he saw the DINN turn away, only to be finished off by another barrage.

"Concentrate! We're not dead yet." Lee commanded to the crew, who had been momentarily stunned at the close call. "Gunnery, reload missile tubes and prepare for follow-up barrage. And continue the anti-aircraft screen. Helm, maintain course and speed."

The only reply was the men doing as they were ordered. That was another thing Lee liked about his current crew; they were renegades, and many of them were typical scum, but they followed orders to the letter.

"Captain, I'm getting additional readings incoming from Carpentaria." reported the _Odyssey_'s sensor operator.

"Number and type?" Lyn interjected for Lee.

"Unknown, they're… long-range missiles, coming in hot!" the operator yelled out in warning.

"Intercept!" Lyn commanded to the gunnery operator, who was working before Lyn had finished her sentence.

By now everyone on the bridge could see the tell-tail white vapor trails arcing in the sky and coming down right toward the _Odyssey_. The "Igelstellungs" swiveled to redirect their fire at the incoming missiles, scoring many explosions in the process, but there were still several more of them still made it through. The next thing Lee felt was the missiles' impact against the ship, the explosion rocking it violently. The elderly ship commander instinctively grabbed the armrests of his chair to keep himself from falling out.

Fortunately, the _Odyssey_'s designers had taken precautions against the use of high explosives, as the land battleship's heavy armor held up to the missiles. Apart from people falling out of their chairs and the shaking, there were no secondary explosions, although one of the missiles had strayed almost close enough to hit the port side "Gottfried", and another Lee could have sworn had just missed the bridge. Again he reflected on his earlier words, but only for a very brief moment.

"Damage!?" Lee demanded.

The fire control operator shook his head. "Four wounded in engineering, but all stations report clear."

"Sensors, where the hell did those missiles come from!?" Lyn followed up her commander. She knew DINNs weren't capable of mounting that many missiles, much less firing them from that kind of range. That only meant two other choices: either the missiles were launched from the base itself or…

"No way… You've got to be kidding me…!" the sensor operator muttered in astonishment, as he re-read his display two more times. But there was no mistaking the green-lined image window that had appeared on his tactical display. "Enemy _Lesseps_-class, bearing zero-four-two, coming out from the gulf!"

Lyn turned her head in disbelief. "They have a battleship out there too?"

"It must be their mothership." Lee concluded with disdain. The _Lesseps_-class land battleship had been ZAFT's harbinger against the Alliance terrestrial forces during the Wars, combining heavy firepower, high land speed and mobile suit capacity into a single vessel. The class became infamous when Andrew "Desert Tiger" Waltfeld used the original pathfinder in ZAFT's Africa campaign, where it played a role in wiping out the Eurasia Federation's tank corps. That all being said, the Destroyers' being in possession of a working _Lesseps_' was something even Lee wasn't expecting, and its presence on the battlefield only complicated things for him and his band.

Lee looked at his gunnery chief again. "Guns, are we in range for that?"

"I can't get a direct line with the Gottfrieds without hitting our mobile suits. "Zweihander" anti-ship missiles would be better, right now the tubes are being reloaded with 'Wirbelwinds'..." the gunnery chief explained.

A sudden rumbling signaled that the enemy battleship had moved into range to use its main guns, and was willing to do so despite its own suits being in the way. "Try with the Gottfrieds anyway! Simone, see if you can get our mobile suits to move out of our line of fire."

"Working on it." Simone replied as she tried to get a hold of the mobile suit pilots.

At this point, the marauder _Lesseps_ had come into view from the bridge tower, although it was still a pretty far away. Lee could see the flashes of the former ZAFT battleship's 40cm dual cannons firing, with each shot coming unbearably close to his own ship. Fortunately the _Odyssey_ responded with her own "Gottfrieds", although her shots weren't scoring any direct hits either. Lee wondered if the gunners were having trouble from the distance between the two ships or if they were hesitant due to the possibility of hitting the _Odyssey_'s own MS.

Lee thought about the possibility of having the Verde Buster deal with the enemy battleship with its cannons, but there were still other mobile suits out there, and he doubted he could get Virgil to break off from the fight easily.

_Damn it Virgil, what's taking you and the others so long? Don't tell me Dan hired some decent contenders this time._ Lee thought to himself. Either that or his pilots were procrastinating, but he doubted the latter.

"…What's going on?" he heard a voice that didn't belong to any of his bridge crew ask from behind.

Lee and Lyn looked to see that Ryoko Nagato had made her way onto the bridge without being noticed, in fact the door was just sliding close when she spoke up. The young coordinator was now staring out the viewport with confusion and wonder written over her face, and although they were still doing their duties, the other crew members were looking at her from the corners of their eyes.

"What are you doing here? You can't come onto the bridge now…!" Lyn exclaimed at Ryoko's presence.

Lee raised a hand to stop her. "It's alright Lyn. She can be here."

Another shell hit close, causing the whole ship to shutter. Ryoko stumbled from the shock, but kept herself from falling to the floor by grabbing onto Lee's chair.

"I must apologize to you Miss Nagato." Lee said as Ryoko reoriented herself. He knew the girl was unsure by what he meant, so he clarified. "I promised I would take you to Carpentaria, but that doesn't seem to be certain now. One of our acquaintances tripped us at the finish line."

"Who are you fighting?" Ryoko asked, purposely not replying to Lee's apology.

"Dan Noachim and whatever scum he could scrounge up." Lee replied, eyes still forward to the battle.

Ryoko nodded. "I know him. Scarface used to do deals with the people of Stirling."

Another shell explosion, though fortunately it was way off to hit the _Odyssey_. But Lee took that as a hint. "I suggest you get to the hangar and fly your mobile suit out of here. We'll cover your escape."

"I'm not the type to run." Ryoko exclaimed bitterly. She hated it when people told her things like that.

"No, but you have no reason to be here. I said I'd take you as far as I can and I have; there's nothing more to be done." Lee said with the calm of a man being walked to the firing squad.

Ryoko looked at the Captain, then out to the battlefield. She could see it was still pretty fierce, although she couldn't tell how it was faring for either side. She looked back at the Captain. "Can you use one more mobile suit?"

If anyone on the bridge wasn't listening before, now they were especially attentive. This time Lee did look at her, although he remained expressionless. "This isn't a game young lady. You may have the mobile suit, but it takes more than…"

"Don't give me _that_ lecture." Ryoko stated, almost threateningly. "You're right, I don't owe you anything, but that doesn't mean I don't want to help, and from the looks of things you can use it."

Lee didn't say any more words for a moment; he just looked into the coordinator's deep blue eyes. He had seen that kind of glare before, well over his lifetime and he knew there was no arguing against it; even if he outright refused her, Lee had no doubts Ryoko would go out there to fight anyway. But he was still hesitant. "You've been in battle before?"

"I've done mercenary work for a side job." Ryoko replied.

Another rumbling caused him to decide quickly. "Good enough. Go!"

As instant as she had came in, Ryoko bolted for the door and disappeared as it slid close. Lee picked up his chair's comm. receiver again. "Bridge to hangar deck, prepare the Strike Noir for immediate launch. Its pilot is coming down now."

"Are you sure about this sir?" Lyn asked, not quite convinced of the Captain's decision.

"No. But she was able to fight Gabriel; that must count for something." Lee said, eyes back on the battlefield.

* * *

It hadn't taken Ryoko long to find the hangar again, by now she knew the layout of the ship well enough. As fast she could she ran down the catwalk to where her mobile suit stood alone. The mechanics looked up at her as she ran, but like before, Ryoko ignored them and only concentrated on the one near her mobile suit.

May looked up in confusion. "Ryoko! You're going out there?"

"Who were you expecting? Shinn Asuka?" Ryoko called out as she came past the chief mechanic and up to her suit's cockpit area. She quickly opened the hatch and jumped in, but didn't close it yet. "Is he ready to kick ass?"

The chief engineer smiled at that. "As he'll ever be. Good luck out there." May said, giving the Noir pilot a thumbs-up before running away.

Ryoko returned it with a determined smirk as the cockpit closed. Immediately she went through the startup sequence as quickly as she could, even going as far as to activate the Variable Phase Shift armor while the mobile suit was still in the hangar. After all, she didn't want to get shot down before she took off.

When the Strike Noir's main camera came online, one of the starboard gates had begun to open and the catwalks folded up to allow her to proceed. The flight controller directed Ryoko to the launch pad once it had fully opened, where the conveyor moved her suit into a launch position. After all the final checks were cleared, Ryoko was ready to launch.

"Your path is clear, launch anytime." The flight controller said.

That's when Ryoko called out the words she had wanted to say for a long time. "Ryoko Nagato, Strike Noir, launching!"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	6. Phase 05: Black Wings

_"They say that the best mobile suit pilots are usually teenage boys with abnormal skills for their age combined with massive emotional instability and often times battle lust. I can one up that: imagine how a mobile suit would fight with a teenage _girl_ with those qualities at the controls..."  
_- Dearka Elsman

**Phase 05: Black Wings**

**Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Australia  
April 28th, CE 101**

In the GINN Assault Type's cockpit, Dan was getting very frustrated. No matter what he launched at the Verde Buster, it seemed like his adversary was always one step ahead. Even with his trump card, the _Lesseps_-class battleship _Ravager_, originally known as the _St. Germaine_, having entered the battlefield and lay a heavy barrage on the _Odyssey_, it didn't seem like Lee nor his pilots were slowing down. At this rate, he might have had to do something about it himself, even though Dan was the type who would rather have someone else do it and get shot.

His thoughts were interrupted when a beam from the Verde Buster shaved off parts of his GINN's knee armor. "I'll get you yet you son of a bitch!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs as he put more power into his thrusters for another dive.

Just as he was about to press the trigger to unleash his gatling cannons once more, his sensors alerted him to a new arrival on the battlefield.

"Eh?" Dan said as he pulled up and away from the Verde Buster, dodging beam fire as he did. When he reached a safe altitude, he shifted his suit's mono-eye to the direction of the newcomer, immediately noticing the incoming black mobile suit take off from the _Odyssey_'s deck. "Another one?"

"Hey boss, you seein' that?" called one of Dan's pilots.

"How can I miss it, dumbass?" Dan replied, a little incredulous at his "comrade's" apparent stupidity. Still, there was something about that black unit that bothered him, besides the fact it wasn't a mere Dagger or Windam type. _On the other hand, nice suit; I could probably get a fortune off of the scrap._

Another beam from the Verde Buster caught his attention, as this one burned a few more bits of armor off of his GINN. "Harman! Take some guys and break that asshole! Rest of you kill the rest quickly; no more time for fucking around!"

Without question, some of the mobile suits that were attacking Gabriel and the Jet Windam team broke away upon Dan's orders, bee lining toward the newcomer…

* * *

_What is SHE doing out here?_ Gabriel mentally seethed at the sight of the Strike Noir entering the battle and being intercepted by the DINNs. While he could only spare no more than a quick stare at the incoming mobile suit, it was very tempting for him to take a shot at it himself with the Blu Duel's railgun and vent some of his hatred for coordinators off. Problem was he couldn't get a clear shot on the Noir from his position, and there were more Destroyer mobile suits heading toward him.

The Noir's presence on the battlefield, however, caused another reaction to Gabriel: it brought up an image that had long since been buried away in his mind. It wasn't the one of his defeat at Ryoko's hands, but something else entirely. It was the image of a burning town, with the black silhouette of a GINN overlooking it with its red mono-eye. It was only there for a brief second, but it was enough that Gabriel's face welled up in anger and his teeth grinded together in a beast-like motion. _Inhuman trash!!_ he felt his mind scream out.

Putting his sights on the GINN coming at him with its battle sword drawn, Gabriel drew out a "Hrunting" beam saber and put the Duel into a run as the GINN flew into a dive. At first Gabriel was going to make a cut at the suit's cockpit with the saber, but he was so enraged at the moment that at the very last second he kicked the Duel's thrusters up and slammed its shield into the GINN's face, tackling it off of its Guul. The two mobile suits landed with a hard thud onto the desert floor, with the GINN on its back and the Blu Duel on top of it. His fury driving him, Gabriel cried out and made several slashes with his beam saber across the GINN, cutting off the blade of its battle sword, then chopping off its limbs and head one by one, and finally making several deep cuts into the cockpit block and torso. Even after the pilot was dead, Gabriel continued to hack and chop at the GINN as if he were gutting it alive.

He wasn't so enraged that he didn't notice another GINN coming at him from behind, once again with a battle sword drawn. With a reaction time that most mobile suit pilots could only dream of, Gabriel turned the Duel around ninety degrees and let loose his outstretched left arm's "Walther" beam gun. A series of beam shots disarmed the GINN of its sword as well as punctured hole after hole into its armor, forcing it to stop running and back down. Finally twisting his suit around entirely, Gabriel went into a thruster assisted dash and impaled the GINN's cockpit with his beam saber. He could have sworn he felt the Destroyer pilot turn into cinders in that brief pause, before he kicked the thrusters on again and dashed past, unintentionally cutting the ZAFT surplus mobile suit into two parts.

Gabriel was so transfixed that he didn't hear the yelling on his comm. system at first. "Gabriel, behind you!" came the hurried and fearful voice of Simone.

Gabriel twisted the head of the Blu Duel around immediately, and when he didn't see what Simone was talking about at first he had the cameras magnify the image. His eyes widened in surprise when his main screen was filled with the image of one of the big guns on that newly arrived _Lesseps_ having just turned toward his general direction, and he almost thought he could see the barrel tips begin to light.

_Holy shit! _was all he could think before reflex kicked in and he had the Blu Duel leap back to avoid a dual shot of 40cm shells. He would have returned fire, but he wasn't within firing range for the "Scorpion" nor the "Walthers", plus there was no way he could get close enough with that kind of firepower focused on him anyway. And it didn't help matters that Gabriel could see, along with the cannons lining up for a second shot, missiles were exiting from the _Lessep_'s vertical launchers and arching in the air toward his position.

"Damn it, I was too careless…!" he muttered through his grit teeth as he kicked his suit into full drive.

* * *

_That's a lot of henchmen_. Ryoko thought when she looked at her sensor display, and the number of enemy mobile suits that was displayed on it. Neither did she miss the team of DINNs that had turned toward her direction, although she didn't think they'd respond her entrance that quickly. "Let's see what else you can do Noir." she murmured under her breath.

No sooner than she said that did the DINNs come into range and began firing at her with their machineguns. Ryoko quickly put power into her thrusters and banked to the left, and then to the right, moving around the bullets. However, the action almost made her lose control of the mobile suit, much to Ryoko's surprise.

"What the-?" she let out as it moved under her, as she gripped the control stick to stabilize the Noir.

"Above you Nagato!" she heard someone yell out over the radio. Ryoko looked up just in time to see a DINN coming up at her with its anti-air shotgun, close enough that it was literally filling up the monitor. Without thinking she arched back on the control stick and put power into her thrusters, a move that made her jolt against her control chair. The DINN continued to shoot at her, but with its machinegun instead. The 76mm rounds that Ryoko wasn't able to dodge rattled against her suit's armor, making the mobile suit shake violently, and Ryoko along with it. "Damn…!" Ryoko managed to let out through her clenched teeth. She didn't remember bullets impacts feeling that way before.

About four mobile suits, three DINNs and a GINN on a Guul, came racing toward her position now. Ryoko was forced to drop her altitude and make a dash at high speed as the sky was getting crowded around her. Keeping as much control as she could muster, she banked and dodged the bullets and missiles that rained around her, all of them impacting into the ground below. One of the missiles struck her in the leg, and although the impact was easily absorbed by the VPS, it still caused Ryoko to almost crash the Noir into the sand. To keep her opponents from coming in closer, she had the Noir flip around one hundred eighty degrees, and then return fire with its "Igelstellung IIs". She managed to trace rounds across the left arm of one of the DINNs, as well as its shotgun, making the weapon useless, but other than that she failed to cause any real damage. The rest of the mobile suits evaded her attack and fired back, becoming more aggressive in their assault.

Ryoko once more attempted to dodge, which she succeeded in, but at the same time it almost literally threw her mobile suit into a pitfall. _Why is this happening now!?_ she thought, trying to maintain control while the g-forces impacted her body. _I thought I got the speed and response down at Stirling. What the hell…?_

As she reached a higher altitude, she could see at least two more mobile suits, a DINN and a CGUE heading at her, making for a total six on one. Ryoko was starting to get worried now; the number against her was increasing and she had yet to have an opportunity to draw an effective weapon and shoot back. And she knew if she spent all of her energy trying to focus on just keeping the Strike Noir under control, she would be dead. Why was it that she had perfect control days ago, yet today she was having difficulty despite the settings not being changed…?

Then it hit her. _Of course, at that time…!_ She remembered. The blue haze in her vision that came when Aizen finally died, and the feeling of an inner but deadly calm that came over her. Whenever she entered into that "phase" as she thought of it as, she did things that she couldn't otherwise do with little notice, almost to the point of performing miracles. And throughout the time she had piloted the Strike Noir without realizing its high response or its difficult control. It really was like a wild mustang, just as her grandfather had called it.

Fortunately, Ryoko knew that kind of mobile suit well. "So you're the kind of guy that likes the gentle touch." she murmured, feeling a small smile cross her face.

As the enemy machines came at her to renew their attack, Ryoko lightened her grip on the control stick a little bit, just enough that she still remained in control. Her adversaries had made her first few minutes in battle difficult, so naturally she wanted to return the favor.

* * *

Max Harman stared out at the black mobile suit with a venomous grin and a gleam in his eyes. _This is almost too easy_. He thought, seeing that it was now finally cornered and had taken little effort to do so. That was a good thing, because Max wanted to live longer and didn't want to deal with so-called 'aces'.

"We got em! Everyone converge and slag it!" Harman ordered his comrades as he pushed his DINN to top speed and charged at the black mobile suit, ready to finish it off.

Deciding that he wanted it to be a spectacular finish, he holstered his machinegun and swung his anti-aircraft shotgun up; Harman loved seeing that particular weapon shred a mobile suit pilot when fired point blank into a cockpit. The black suit didn't seem to react to Harman's charge, as the pilot was more than likely pissing his pants at the sight of six mobile suits looming over it. It was too bad he couldn't see the moron's expression; it was probably something Harman would pay good money to see elsewhere.

At that point, Harman was so close to the black suit that he was staring into its yellow eye cameras. They were definitely unnerving, and if not for the crappy pilot Harman would have definitely been freaked out by them. Not pausing in his assault, Max planted the 190mm shotgun into the black suit's gut with a heavy _CLANG_. _Open wide asshole_. He thought as he moved to pull the trigger, the image of the pilot being ripped apart by flying shrapnel beginning to emerge in his mind's eye.

And then something happened. Right before he was about to end the pilot's life, the black mobile suit's fist swung out and knocked the shotgun right out of the DINN's hand. This was followed by a solid kick to the ZAFT built mobile suit's head that knocked Harman away from the mobile suit's line of sight. "-the HELL!?" Harman exclaimed. He redrew his machinegun again to try and counterattack, but by the time he opened fired the black suit shot upward at high speed. "Still have some fight in ya, bastard!?"

He fired three more bursts at the black suit, but to his great astonishment, it dodged every single one of them by simply banking one way after the other. The other mobile suits followed, but the enemy pilot dodged their fire as well, literally one bullet stream at a time. One of the other DINN pilots tried to close in like what Harman had done earlier to catch it before it could dodge, but keeping out of reach from the suit's arms and legs. Harman was willing to bet the black suit was done for this time for sure, until the DINN fired its machinegun. Right as it did, the black suit actually slipped to the side of the attack and circled around the DINN at blinding speed. As it did, it drew weapons for the first time in this fight, specifically those two pistols at its hips.

In the next split second, a pair of green beam shots blasted into the DINN's backpack thruster module and right out its chest, and Harman cringed as the pilot's scream and subsequent explosion filled his DINN's auditory systems.

But the black suit wasn't finished there, even as it flew away from the explosion. Before Harman's very eyes, its left arm swung out leveling the beam pistol, and in another split second it placed a single round into the chest of another DINN, detonating the battery inside and sending it to join the first. The attacking GINN soon followed, with a double shot from the right beam pistol that took out its head first and then the battery once again.

Harman couldn't believe what he was seeing. One minute the black suit was barely flying, then another it took out three fully armed mobile suits in a matter of seconds, and now it was flying and dodging again as the three remaining Destroyer suits, including his own, had gotten back on the gun and returned fire. Only this time it wasn't barely hanging on and was being used in a manner that was beyond Harman's understanding.

And then in full force, the fear eclipsed on him when the black mobile suit turned towards his DINN once again, its yellow eyes now blazing through his main monitor. Even as his surroundings were filled with a great green flash, Harman never realized what exactly he had been fighting against…

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

To say the least Ryoko's performance didn't go unnoticed, from either friend or foe. The bridge of the _Odyssey_ had already grown deathly silent when everyone saw the Strike Noir take off from the deck, but now astonishment and shock had grown into the atmosphere as Ryoko ravaged her enemies like the black angel of death her suit resembled. Not even the distant _booms_ from the _Lesseps_' shells were enough to break everyone's attention.

"How is that possible…?" one of the controllers gaped, reflecting the thoughts of everyone present. "I've never seen anyone pilot a mobile suit like that…"

"None of us have in this lifetime." Lyn replied, who managed to hide her own shock from her expression. Without anyone noticing it, she made a corner glance toward Lee to see what his reaction was.

The _Odyssey_'s commander had been watching the Noir's performance with much interest, but unlike the other spectators, he showed no amazement toward it, just a piercing gaze that seemed look past the battle itself. If Lyn had to guess, knowing the captain in ways very few others had, she would have said that the Noir had sparked remembrance in Lee, recalling the things he had seen during the Wars.

"Weapons, have the missile tubes been reloaded with 'Zweihanders'?" Lee finally spoke up, his gaze unwavering. His hardened commanding voice alone was enough to remind everyone that they were in the middle of a battle and that they could all die if nobody got back to work.

"Uh...yes, Captain. They have and are ready to fire." reported the gunnery chief when he looked back over his monitor.

"Good. Target the _Lesseps_ and fire." ordered Lee. A moment later the missiles rocketed off from the launch tubes. As the tubes had been placed right in front of the bridge tower, the viewport was temporarily clouded over from the missile exhaust, but even that didn't break Lee's gaze.

As he watched the Noir shoot down its sixth kill, Lee couldn't help but wonder. _Are you watching this too, Virgil?_

* * *

As a matter of fact, Virgil Reneghan had seen Ryoko's side of the battle himself, both when she was having great difficulty and when she was making fools out of her Destroyer adversaries. His reaction was naturally a smirk, but this smirk wasn't his usual sly one; it was the kind made when the bearer recalls certain memories through a present event.

_And here I thought Gabriel and I were the only aces of that caliber left on this planet. _Virgil thought, smirk deepening. _She moves just like…_

"Wha… What the hell is that…?" Dan stammered, his GINN Assault Type's mono-eye now looking toward the direction where the Strike Noir was fighting.

Spotting another opportunity, Virgil had the bayonet blade on his right "Gewehr" fold out, to which he made a thruster leap at the GINN. By the time Dan snapped back to reality, Virgil was already on top of him, and the attack left a very large gash across the breast plate of the GINN's assault shroud. Dan reacted in kind by sending a full burst from his shoulder gatling guns down Virgil's way, but the Verde Buster easily evaded the attack.

"Just what kind of monster do you have fighting for you Reneghan!?" Dan let out as he continued his attack.

Amidst the barrage, Virgil's smirk changed into a full grin, one that was born out of cruelty and insidiousness in the face of an adversary. "Someone that's well beyond your league." He retaliated with his shoulder cannons, forcing Dan to back off from his attack.

"What'd you say?" Dan barked back.

"You saw how she took out your goons; you could have an army behind you and it wouldn't make any difference. You're better off just running and not looking back Scarface." Virgil said. Despite Virgil's light tone, he expressed an eerie seriousness in that explanation, as if he knew something that most people didn't.

Dan, however, did not notice this, and let out a sharp hiss at the mention of his hated nickname. "Fuck you! I'll take that black bitch down myself!" he practically howled.

Flaring both the GINN's thrusters and the thrusters of the Guul sub-lifter, Dan made one last dive at the Verde Buster before he took off in the direction toward the Strike Noir. Virgil couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, it was almost too easy to push guys like Dan into the wrong direction. He had no doubts Ryoko would give the psycho what was coming to him, especially if she really is as good as he had assessed. The Gundam pilot would have loved to watch it, but he had things to do already.

_I hope Ryoko dices him into itty-bitty little pieces. _He thought, before turning back to business himself.

By now the bulk of Dan's mobile suits had been eradicated, and while there were still plenty around, they were being well taken care of by the Jet Windams. The Strike Noir's entrance onto the battlefield only evened things out further. But the mobile suits weren't as troublesome as the Destroyers' battleship, which was still laying heavy fire at the _Odyssey_ and the surrounding area. Virgil knew what he had to do next, and so keyed into Gabriel's channel. "Hey Gabriel, you still there?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you! I'm taking massive fire from that goddamn _Lesseps_!" came the sharp reply, followed by the sound of an explosive shockwave hitting the Blu Duel and causing it to shutter.

It was a wonder how Virgil's smile could get any bigger. "Relax, I'll aid you. On my mark we'll make a run at her. Attack Pattern Sigma."

It took a moment for Gabriel to recall that tactic. It was an old anti-ship combat maneuver that was developed by the Earth Alliance during the days of the First Bloody Valentine War, but it was still used in the modern day by veterans and people that had some kind of mobile suit training. He nodded back at his companion. "A Cyclone Maneuver? Sounds great, but what about Dan?"

"He's pretty much taken care of." was all Virgil gave as a reply.

* * *

Ryoko banked to the right as her latest target, a CGUE, open fired with its M68 "Cattus" 500mm recoilless rifle. Instinctively she grimaced, remembering how the CGUE was also the preferred MS of the now deceased Johnny Hale and all the torment he wrought upon Stirling with it. Ryoko held no love for this particular type of mobile suit.

Without a second thought, she waited until the rockets were close enough before she fired a single beam shot from her right M8F-SB1 "Derringer" beam pistol, striking all three rockets down in a straight line, detonating them simultaneously. And just as Ryoko could see in her mind's eye the DINN pilot gaping like an idiot at her stint, she reached out her right arm and fired off the wrist mounted EQS1358 rocket anchor, which pierced right into the CGUE's breastplate. Then putting energy into the Noir's thrusters, she flew past and ripped the CGUE off of its Guul sub-lifter, and then Noir into a straight dive. When she was only meters away from the ground, she withdrew the rocket anchor from her captive and pulled up, while one of her rear mounted cameras displayed the CGUE slamming into the desert floor and subsequently exploding not long after.

That made it her eighth mobile suit shot down, right after the DINN she had outmaneuvered by dropping directly underneath and firing a barrage of beams through the its pelvic armor and into the underside of the cockpit. She was on a roll today.

_Where's the next one?_ She thought, looking around for any other contenders to challenge her. There were still several MS left, though several were occupied by those black Windam type mobile suits, and she could imagine the rest deliberately trying to avoid taking her on directly. Looked like she would have to hunt down the rest herself.

However, her train of thought was disrupted by the beep of her sensors, signally an enemy mobile suit was heading straight toward her. And more importantly, this enemy mobile suit was firing off missiles of its own. Without a second thought, Ryoko put the Noir back onto evasive maneuvers to avoid the six missiles, then turned the Noir's head to see who was firing at her. A single GINN with Assault Shroud armor, additional guns and launchers as well as a missing left arm; could be challenging, even with that latter part.

"I'm not going to let you show me up bitch!" came the battle cry over an open frequency.

_It's Dan himself._ Ryoko realized, recognizing the voice. Side-slipping, it took no real effort at all to avoid the GINN's shoulder gatling guns or its machinegun, any more than it had for the last couple of MS Ryoko had fought against. She wondered if they would have done damage to her Gundam anyway, but decided it was best not to risk it. Quickly she turned both "Derringers" at the GINN and open fired, only to see the green beams scatter upon impact against the outer armor.

"Crap, laminated." she said aloud, gritting her teeth together. _So much for another instant kill._

"Sorry, but if that jerk Virgil couldn't take me down…" howled Dan as he unleashed a pair of grenades from his GINN's right forearm launcher. "Then you sure as hell aren't going to!"

The GINN was so close now that the grenades nearly impacted against the Noir torso, but once more Ryoko managed to bank in time for them to fly past, although one grenade managed to graze her right wing without exploding. Seeing that her "Derringers" were now useless, she placed them back on her mobile suit's hip mounts, returning fire with her CIWS to keep Dan from barreling in on her. Her shots, while not properly aimed under the circumstances, shot across the GINN's right arm and into the 76mm autocannon it was holding, immediately turning the weapon into a metal hulk. Seemingly angered, the GINN's mono-eye flashed a deep red as it threw away its machinegun and drew the MA-M3 heavy sword from its left side.

Putting more energy into its Guul lifter, the GINN shot straight at the Noir at a speed that didn't seem right for such a heavy MS, slashing its sword as it went. Ryoko wanted to draw her "Fragarach" beam blades in response, but Dan wasn't giving her enough time for it, as she was being forced to bank and dodge each slash.

"Come on, come on, COME ON! Is that all you got!?" she heard the roar over her suit's audio system as the GINN pilot went into a frenzy.

"Gah, shut up _kusotare_!" Ryoko finally snapped, feeling her own aggression begin to rise.

Finally seeing an opportunity after Dan's last slash, Ryoko had the Noir lurch forward and then perform a sideways spin which landed its right leg into the GINN's head, nearly crushing it with the impact. While the force wasn't enough to knock it off of its Guul, it gave Ryoko the time needed to pass over the GINN and then twist straight around at toward the former ZAFT suit's back, all the while drawing the twin "Fragarachs" and igniting their magenta beams.

Then moving too fast to think, Ryoko shot back at the GINN's exposed back ready to slice her way into the thing's cockpit, but Dan's own abnormal reaction speed kicked in at that point as well and he managed to turn the Guul completely around just in time to parry her blow with his own heavy sword. Seeing that the metal blade wasn't cut off on contact, Ryoko realized that the heavy sword was also laminated.

"You've got a lot of guts for a bitch!" Dan yelled once more, his GINN's mono-eye staring right into the Noir's yellow camera eyes.

"You have no idea." Ryoko shot back with an edge, the Noir's eyes flashing as if reflecting the statement of its pilot. And then the real fight began, as both mobile suits traded cuts and parries with their respective bladed weapons. It was nothing short of amazing how fast Dan could move, but Ryoko knew she was faster, and there was no way that obsolete GINN could keep up with her Noir's movements. At the same time however, this would still be a tough battle, even for someone like her.

* * *

**Dan's Destroyers **_**Lesseps**_**-class land battleship **_**Ravager**_

_I don't fucking believe this!_ complained the _Ravager_'s captain, angrily shielding his face as another "Gottfried" blast hit close to home. _Would somebody tell me just how the hell five to six mobile suits and a battleship can stand against the Destroyers!?_

He had told Dan that they were better off just proceeding north from the gulf after they sacked Carpentaria, that there was no need to engage the _Odyssey_ after a very successful raid, but no, Dan said that it would just make their day even better, taking out their hated rivals and "adding more waste to the wasteland". And what do they have to so for it now? Most of their mobile suit force destroyed and a battleship that was getting more and more damaged with each shot fired. The captain would have given the order to pull back, if it weren't for the knowledge that Dan would sooner turn around and fire a grenade right into the battleship's bridge than let them run away.

"Those two tricked-out MS making a charge at us, coming in fast!" the sensor operator yelled out loud for everyone on the bridge to hear.

"Goddamn it, shoot them down before they get close!" the captain ordered hurriedly.

The machinegun turrets of the _Ravager_ were blazed away without pause, along with the various missile launchers that dotted her hull, but the two Gundams were moving far too fast to be tracked by the computer assisted weapons. They approached the ship together, systematically dodging or absorbing whatever was shot at them.

When they reached a certain distance, Virgil keyed back into Gabriel's comlink. "Break, now!" he signaled. With that, both mobile suits dispersed in opposite directions.

Instead of either MS being turned toward the directions that they were moving however, both pilots kept their suits facing toward the battleship while "side-dashing" at speeds that had made Gundam type MS renowned. At the same time, while they made mockeries of the turrets' attempt to kill either of them, they open fired with their own guns, nailing different points on the ship; first went the port side bow 40cm dual cannon, followed by the machine gun turrets and the land torpedo launch tubes that were on that side as well. Then Virgil angled around directly in front of the ship, where he took out the mobile suit launch port with a single well placed 350mm slug, while Gabriel moved to the stern and destroyed the back mounted dual cannon there and shot two railgun rounds into either of the scale system nacelles before moving on. One by one they took out the various turrets, launch tubes and machineguns, while at the same time taking deep penetration with their heavier weapons into the broadside of the ship, which destroyed internal compartments and decks.

This was the Earth Alliance's Attack Pattern Sigma at work, also known as the Cyclone Maneuver. Originally designed to be used in space in three full dimensions, a "ground pounder" version had been developed by the Alliance for its own uses against ZAFT land warships, where it was used to great effect during both Wars. With two or more MS circling around the target warships at high velocities in opposing movement patterns, much like the winds of a cyclone, they removed the point defense weapons' ability to keep track of them. This only left the ship all the more vulnerable to the suits' own firepower, as long as it remained in the "eye of the storm", which was exactly what was happening here.

Now that they had decimated the entirety of the ship's mounted weapons, Gabriel added in his own _coup de grace_. He was now directly in front of the ship while Virgil was toward the rear, giving him the position necessary for what he was about to do next. Both green camera eyes flaring with virulence, he had the Blu Duel leap into the air, where he angled out his "Scorpion" railgun and fired his final two shots into the _Ravager_'s bridge, destroying the brains of the ship with an explosion that almost made him fly backward from the shockwave.

At the sight of their ship being totaled by the two Gundams, the remaining Destroyers began to turn and fly away one by one. The battle, as it were, was effectively over.

Dan grimaced as the black mobile suit took another chunk out of his GINN with those oversized blades, but he still kept at it. He hated to admit it, but the enemy pilot was doing better than he would have expected, even if she did take out eight of his henchmen with ease. In an effort to gain some breathing room, Dan fired the last two missiles from both his leg launchers and his Guul sub-lifter straight at the black machine. However, the _Odyssey_ pilot was able to avoid the missiles with a quick side maneuver and a barrage of CIWS rounds that detonated the lead missile, causing it to explode and take the rest with it.

* * *

Cursing at the spectacle, Dan realized all he had left for firepower were his gatling cannons, and even those had very little ammunition left, not that they'd do much good against the black suit's VPS armor. No, if he was going to beat this thing, his best bet was to overpower it at close-range, but that would be difficult with the mobile suit brandishing two anti-ship grade beam blades as it did.

_Hell if I'm going to let this little shit beat me!_ He admonished at himself, looking straight at the black suit through his monitor with a battle-raged glare.

He was so focused on the enemy mobile suit that he didn't even notice the comlink window pop up on his side monitor, displaying the _Ravager_'s captain. "Dan, it's no use, we're getting fucked over like it's prom night! I'm giving the recall signal; you better pull back while you have a chance!"

Upon those words, Dan's face already twisted from an enraged glare into something truly terrible to behold. "Negative, goddamn it! We're finishing this; even if you have to ram the _Odyssey_ with the ship, you're not pulling back! Do you understand!?"

Right then a sudden white flash engulfed the vid window that was followed by the sounds of an explosion, people screaming, and finally static. "Damn it Gary, respond!"

There was no more reply, but Dan still found something else that made his blood boil further. When he looked at his radar to see if the _Ravager_ was still giving off a signal, he saw that the remaining Destroyers were all beginning to turn around and start flying away in different directions, metaphorical tails between their legs and everything.

"Cowards! When this over, I'll kill all of you!" he hissed, additional rage building. He held up his fist and slammed it into a control panel, holding back on the desire of turning away from the black mobile suit to go and hunt them down one by one.

"You can give up any time you know." the enemy pilot dryly suggested, apparently having overheard Dan's outburst. The black suit's camera eyes seemingly brightened in reaction to its pilot's comment.

"You know what _you _can do!? You can shove it up your…!" Dan bellowed as he put the GINN Assault Type into a dash, battle sword raised high.

* * *

With little time to react to the charging GINN, Ryoko brought up both of the "Fragarachs" and crossed them together to deflect the overhead attack, simultaneously deactivating the left beam blade so that it didn't cut into the right one but only reinforced it. The impact was enough to make the entire Strike Noir shutter, and Ryoko once again found herself gritting her teeth together in an effort to relieve the pressure. Focusing, Ryoko forced Dan's heavy sword off of her and went on the offensive.

Swinging the beam blades in an overhead chop with the right one followed by a slash to the midsection with the left, Ryoko managed to push Dan back. She followed this up with a small burst of 40mm shots from her "Ingelstellung IIs", but Dan managed to side dash the attack and charge at her again. Beam blades against heavy sword, the two slashed and cut at each other all the while parrying and evading just as quickly. Ryoko had hoped Dan would get sloppy while fighting in this state of mind, but unfortunately for her the enemy pilot somehow managed to keep the speed and precision of his attacks even if he wasn't thinking clearly.

Suddenly the gatling cannons lit up again, spraying high velocity rounds across the Noir's torso that made Ryoko jar in her seat. The Noir was so close to the GINN that even if Ryoko had seen it coming she wouldn't have been able to evade it in time. She managed to reorient her Gundam just as Dan charged at her with his heavy sword again, moving fast enough to parry it with her right beam blade. Then throwing off the sword and moving even faster, she made an underhand slash that cut across the grim reaper insignia on the GINN's left armor pauldron, making a deep superheated gash that almost totally obscured it.

Ryoko followed this up by swiping at the GINN's legs, hoping to dismount it from its Guul and let Dan die by the long fall to the ground. But despite the power she put into the slash, she couldn't make a cut; the GINN's leg armor was also laminated, and all the Gundam pilot could make was a glancing cut.

"Shit." she muttered upon seeing her attack having practically no effect.

And before she could make another attack, the GINN swiped at her with its sword once more, forcing Ryoko to fly back and return to dodging.

_This is going nowhere. _Ryoko thought angrily to herself as she weaved and thrust back while the GINN flew at her, slashing its sword in motions that were more of reflex than technique. She could see that as the fighting progressed, Dan became sloppier; whether be it from exhaustion or battle rage she didn't know. Unfortunately as a side effect, his attacks increased in speed, power and number, and it was taking more and more effort for Ryoko to evade and fight back, all without making any headway herself. And she knew she couldn't keep it up forever; even if she was a coordinator, she still had limits, and so did the Noir.

Then all at once her world shuttered like an earthquake. At long last Dan had managed to get a slash into the Noir's torso, with enough force behind it that even with the VPS in effect Ryoko was sure her mobile suit had taken damage. This was followed by a second blow that sent her mobile suit flying back, almost knocking it out of the sky. By that point however, Ryoko managed to cross her beam blades again to keep a third blow from landing.

"What's the matter bitch? Don't tell me you're finished already." sneered Dan, who wasn't bothering to hide any bloodlust. Ryoko could almost see the drool coming off the man's lips, even if there was no picture feed established between the two MS.

"Hell no! In fact, I've still got energy to burn!" Ryoko declared. And then she did something that even surprised Dan: she forced the crossed blades to lower, and then after reeling back, she actually had the Noir headbutt the GINN in the faceplate. The force was such that it crumpled the GINN's face in and smashed the mono-eye, while at the same to gave Ryoko all the time she needed to throw Dan off and fly back a fair distance.

Unfortunately, while the GINN's main camera was destroyed, it apparently had backups because Dan made another charge at the Noir, this time with full power behind his thrusters and heavy sword raised to impale. Ryoko almost had to cover her ears to block out the blood-curdling "DIE WHORE!!" that was coming out from her audio system, and she had no time to cut off her comlink. This was the opportunity she needed.

Putting energy into her own thrusters, Ryoko met Dan's charge head on, beam blades at her sides. At first it appeared that she was going to ram the GINN, but when they were mere meters apart, Ryoko raised the "Fragarachs" and angled them straight forward while pressed together at the tips.

And then the two mobile suits met head on. Not only had the Strike Noir dodged the GINN's blade, but Ryoko had slammed both blade tips through the Assault Shroud armor, specifically through the tear in the armor that she had noticed earlier, and impaled the battery reactor underneath; in fact, both blade tips had gone straight through the back of the mobile suit. And already explosions were flying all over the GINN Assault Type.

* * *

Dan cursed as things started to explode around him. Sparks were flying off control panels, the cockpit lights were dimming due to the loss of power and his right monitor shattered into shards which rained down. Dan managed to cover his face before any of the shards reached, but in the process he could feel his right arm get cut to ribbons, making him howl with pain.

And even with the loss power, the flickering image of the black mobile suit remained on his main monitor, before Dan literally ripped his GINN away from the blades and turned around, putting what remaining power he had into his Guul thrusters. It was nothing short of a miracle that the battery hadn't detonated after it was pierced through. But as much as it chafed at him, he needed to get as far away from this place as he could before he lost all power; he sure as hell wasn't going to let himself get captured by Lee and his cronies.

"Just you wait, Lee! You and yours are still on my hit list!" he seethed over broadband one last time as he wrestled with his failing mobile suit's controls. In a matter of minutes, he had joined his hired help in retreat, with his own tail between his legs and all.

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

"I don't believe it…" Lyn managed to say without stammering, reflecting the thoughts of everyone on the bridge as the last of the Destroyers pulled away. The Strike Noir hovered just in front of the _Odyssey_, so the Gundam's back was in clear view of everyone on the bridge. Nobody took their eyes off of it.

In a matter of minutes, Ryoko Nagato had totally shifted the tide of the battle, destroying eight mobile suits and crippling the enemy leader without suffering a scratch on her own, even when it seemed as if the entirety of the enemy's attention had turned on her. Aside from Virgil and Gabriel on occasion, no one on the bridge had ever seen any other mobile suit pilot perform so well in the heat of battle.

Except for Ian Lee.

If anyone had been looking at the _Odyssey_'s captain during the battle, they would have seen a certain look in his eyes as he had watched the Noir make fools out of Dan Noachim's mercenaries, even amidst his stern expression. It was the kind of look brought on by nostalgia and memories of a past that had been left behind so long ago, even if it didn't feel so long to Lee.

Unlike the people around him, he could still remember the days when coordinators were abundant and the Earth's mortal enemy, when it was not uncommon to see a single ZAFT mobile suit plow through an entire Earth Alliance battalion without slowing down. He had never forgotten the images of Kira Yamato's now legendary feats with the Strike and Freedom Gundams, nor the power displayed by Athrun Zala and Shinn Asuka during their time on the battlefield. No, Ian Lee had based the military career of his younger days around the undermining of ZAFT and the preservation of the Earth Alliance from domination, and while Lee wasn't as surprised at Ryoko's performance as the rest of the crew, it did bring up all the reasons why he had viewed PLANT, ZAFT and the entire coordinator race as his enemy thirty years ago. A position in Lee's heart that very few beings in this life had ever earned.

"Captain…" one of the crew looked over to Lee, although he didn't turn to see who. "Is she… like what you fought against in the Bloody Valentines?"

It took Lee a brief moment before he replied, but when he did, his tone was of the utmost seriousness. "Yes. She is precisely the enemy that I and many others had fought against thirty years ago, and although this planet has changed since then, I will never forget the adversaries I both feared and respected. Be thankful that none of you will ever have to face such an enemy."

Lyn took that as her cue to speak up and get everyone back on their jobs. "We're not through this yet. Once the enemy has pulled back a safe distance, call back our mobile suits and continue into the gulf."

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Carpentaria Base, Northern Australia**

It had now been two hours since the battle had ended, and just as much time since the _Odyssey_ had pulled into the remains of Carpentaria. Evening had just begun to set in by now, and as Gabriel Zola looked out from the _Odyssey_'s observation deck to the outside, he could still see people working below, scavenging whatever was useful from the basin and loading it back on the ship. Apparently the Destroyers had left in such a hurry to fight them that they hadn't taken everything.

Gabriel himself would have been down helping, but Lee had ordered the MS pilots to stay on the ship, so that in case another bad guy finds them, the pilots would be able to jump back in their suits at a moments notice. And at the same time Lee wanted the six of them, including the Strike Noir's pilot, to take the moment and cool off before they were needed again. So while Virgil had gone back to the bridge to annoy Lyn once more and Kurtz and his goons were off doing their own thing, Gabriel chose to spend his time in the silence and tranquility of the observation deck.

And that silence was interrupted with the sound of the door sliding open, and when Gabriel looked back from the corner of his eye to see who it was, he cringed.

"Ah… I was wondering I'd see you again, Gabriel Zola." Ryoko Nagato said pleasantly as she slowly walked in. "You'd think with all the time I spent wandering this ship, you and I would have found each other sooner."

Gabriel didn't respond to her, much less turn to face her. Ryoko saw this, but decided to dismiss it; the boy was likely just concentrating on something outside and only noticed her coming in. Casually, she came over to him and stood right beside him, looking out the window. "They sure are busy."

"Because that's our pay off." Gabriel replied in a tone that could have been likened to a snarl. "We put our necks out on the line to get to Carpentaria and ripped through a legion of suits to do it. Might as well take something to make the trip worthwhile."

"Just another day at the office, huh?" Ryoko said conversationally.

"You could say that." Gabriel said simply. This time one could feel the bitterness.

Feeling as if she were missing something, Ryoko looked at him with an arched eyebrow. "Is something wrong? I could leave if you…"

"Yes, there is something wrong." Gabriel stated as fact. This time, he did turn to face her, and his eyes were almost burning with distaste and anger as they locked onto Ryoko's. "You."

Ryoko didn't know how she got the energy to respond. "Me?"

"You really had me going with the 'rebel girl' act, I did feel sorry for you; hell, I was actually very motivated in getting you and your granddad out of that shithole. That is until you performed that stint in that black suit and it all became so clear…" Gabriel said, his glare seemingly intensifying with each word.

Then it became clear. "You… were the one in that blue Gundam that was with Virgil." Ryoko realized.

"Bingo." Gabriel acknowledged. "That's my mobile suit, the Blu Duel Gundam."

"If you're angry about that, I'm sorry." Ryoko tried to explain. "But you caught me off guard when you leaped at me and attacked me, even if it was a mistake…"

"That's where you're wrong: _it wasn't a mistake_." In a flash of movement, Gabriel cornered her, pinning Ryoko between himself and the glass with his arms stretched out on either side of her head, so that he was looming over her. Ryoko could only look back in clear confusion. "I was intent on killing the pilot of that Strike, in fact, I fought tooth and nail to do just that. I just never thought in a million years that pilot would be you, Coordinator."

That last word especially hit Ryoko harder than the rest, and her eyes widened. She now realized what was the root of Gabriel's anger and hatred toward her. "How did…?" she stammered, trying to control her emotions.

This made Gabriel back off a little, as if Ryoko had said something especially stupid. "Oh please Nagato. I saw you punch through a wall, and then later destroy three mobile suits as if it were nothing. And if that wasn't evident enough, the way you piloted your mobile suit alone showed what you really were; no Natural could ever pilot a suit like that."

"But I don't understand, why? Yes I'm a coordinator, but I didn't think you would care what I really was." Ryoko said, with subtle traces of an edge beginning to enter her voice.

"Yeah well, you were wrong. I _do_ care, and I especially hate people like you. You and all your kind are inhuman, unnatural trash as far as I care!" Gabriel practically roared.

And that was the proverbial straw for Ryoko Nagato. With a sudden surge of newfound energy, she spun and smashed her boot heal into Gabriel's face in a roundhouse kick. The move caught Gabriel clearly off guard, as he ended up landing right on the floor.

"You bitch! That actually hurt!" Gabriel roared.

"Of course it did, _bakayarou_, it was supposed to!" Ryoko roared back.

Throwing out his legs, Gabriel was off the floor and ready for a fight. "You are so fucking dead, bitch."

"Like you're the first to tell me that Zola." Ryoko shot back, now more than ready to make the other Gundam pilot eat his words. "I don't know why you hate me or coordinators so badly, but I'll be happy to demonstrate why people like you will run like whipped dogs just from the sight of them!"

As if something inside him spontaneously combusted, Gabriel lunged, and Ryoko raised a gloved fist to intercept.

"That's enough Gabriel!" a new voice interrupted, stopping them both in their tracks.

Having just opened the door without being noticed, Ian Lee walked in with a cross expression. Even though he knew this would was inevitable, that the coordinator Ryoko Nagato and the xenophobic Gabriel Zola would cross paths again and all hell would explode from it, he definitely wasn't going to put up with it.

"Stay out of this captain, I'll be finished by the time…" Gabriel started, his eyes not leaving Ryoko's.

"You will stand down, or I will dump you here with just the clothes on your back." Lee ordered, the firmness of his voice outweighing even Gabriel's ferocity.

"Why Captain?" Gabriel looked up this time, his expression looking accusing. "You fought and killed scum like her for god's sake! You of out of everyone should understand why I need to beat this… _thing_ to a pulp!"

"That was thirty years ago Gabriel, and the war is long over." Lee lowered his head to show he was serious. "I suggest you leave."

Despite the words used by the _Odyssey_'s captain, Gabriel knew when he was being ordered. With a snarl, Gabriel made one last heated glance at Ryoko, as if to say "this isn't over by a long shot", before he turned around and marched out of the observation room.

Although her opposition was now gone, Ryoko couldn't help but make one last angered roar at what had been happening to her; Aizen's death, her gaining Dan as an enemy, and now this. But she didn't stop there; fast as lightning, she slammed her fist down onto the glass paneling of the window, hard enough that one would have thought the ship shook from it.

To Lee's appreciation, the glass didn't crack. "I'd prefer it if you didn't break my ship." he said calmly.

"What is it with you people!?" Ryoko snarled, looking like she was about to cry. "Ever since I've gotten here, everyone's looked at me like I came out of a lab somewhere! Am I really that different from all of you!? Is it that fucking noticeable!!" she growled.

Lee raised his hands and gently motioned her to calm down, a look of sympathy crossing his usually emotionless eyes. "As much as I hate to say it now, yes Miss Nagato, you are different from the rest of us naturals. But as far as _I_ am concerned, you're still human, and that's good enough."

That was enough for Ryoko, as the anger drained from her form, leaving her breathing heavily. Reluctantly, she turned around to face the window and watch the people work outside as Gabriel had done earlier, with Lee himself walking so that he was next to her.

"I don't understand. He was much nicer and understanding at Stirling… I didn't think me being a coordinator would make such a difference." Ryoko said solemnly.

Lee nodded understandingly. "Have you ever heard how the Earth Alliance would take war orphans and practically brainwash them into anti-coordinator soldiers?"

Ryoko looked at Lee and hesitantly nodded.

"Well despite the times, there are those out there, who in all of their paranoia of coordinators and the nightmare of ZAFT returning to Earth to finish everything, practice that concept for their own fighting forces. Gabriel was one of those children taken in and made into a killing machine." Lee said, frowning at the memory of it.

He then continued. "I've seen the programs myself back in the old days. They don't just train the subjects into being able to kill coordinators and anything else they're sent to fight; they train them to hate 'them' more than they would hate 'us'. And that hatred acts as their fuel, it pushes them past their limits and makes them more effective little soldiers. That's why Gabriel is such a good fighter and mobile suit pilot, despite his age."

"That's sickening." Ryoko cringed at the idea.

"Yes it is, but that's the way things are right now." Lee concurred.

A thought occurred to Ryoko on that note. "You said they picked up war orphans; did something happen to Gabriel before he became… that?"

Lee shook his head. "Sorry, I wouldn't know. It's not my story to tell anyway."

"Hm." was the only reply Ryoko gave off; she wondered if there was something more there.

"So Miss Nagato…" Lee decided to continue. "Had things been different today, I would now be shaking your hand goodbye and wishing you luck, but Dan's rampage has changed that."

"So eager to get rid of me?" Ryoko nudged. It was sarcasm, but she still wondered if Lee really was out to get her off of his ship.

Lee shook his head. "Of course not, otherwise I would leave you here without a second thought. No, I'm going to have to ask you to remain on the _Odyssey_ for a while longer, until we find another port for you to depart…"

"Actually, Captain Lee." Ryoko interrupted him. "I thought through all last night and today about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do with my life from here, and I could only come up with one decision: I'd like to stay on the _Odyssey_ as one of your pilots."

The captain looked at her with a quirked eyebrow. "If your grandfather were alive, he certainly wouldn't agree with that decision."

"My grandfather is dead." Ryoko said with all seriousness. "And he took with him everything. Where I came from, who my parents were… Maybe someday I'll actually find out those things, but for now I don't have any clues to start with.

"In the meantime though, I'm going to have to make a living somehow, and piloting mobile suits is what I'm good at. So whether here on this ship or out there…" she waved off into the open horizon beyond the gulf. "That's exactly what I'm going to do, but you and I both know it would beneficial to us if I just stayed here."

"Heh." Lee replied, drawing a small smile at the girl's intelligence. The old warship captain had to admit, she had more than earned her keep today, and the _Odyssey_ did conveniently have room for one more mobile suit which her Strike Noir filled nicely. That and with all the things Virgil highlighted on yesterday, Lee would have been a fool to pass up such a thing.

"Very well Miss Nagato." Lee nodded, reaching out his hand, which Ryoko took. "From here on in, I will expect you to take orders from me, my exec or Virgil. As long as you follow what you're told when you're told, then this ship will be your home for as equally long as you want."

"Acceptable." Ryoko said as she shook his hand, then withdrawing it. "I have one request myself: I want you to just call me Ryoko. 'Miss Nagato' makes me sound like an old lady."

Lee felt a little uneasy about that, considering that this was the granddaughter of his departed friend, and that he couldn't help but be respectful. But since she was going to be working under him, Lee guessed he would have to go with a first name basis anyway.

"As you wish… Ryoko. And once again, welcome to the _Odyssey_."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	7. Phase 06: Across the Wilderness

_"There is a reason why the hero of those old post-apocalypse movies carries a sawed off shotgun. He will more than likely instill the wrath of so many people, that he will need a weapon that can kill them all in one massive spray of shrapnel."  
-_ Rau Le Creuset

**Phase 06: Across the Wilderness**

**Jachin Due defense zone, PLANT, Lagrange point 5  
September 27th, CE 71**

The dazzling lights continued to flicker around him, through his monitors, piercing even the void of space. Each one, he knew, signified the death of a combatant and the entrance of another one into the afterlife; whether they were one of his or one of theirs, he couldn't tell. In truth, it barely mattered to him; he had known beforehand that many would not live through this battle, and he could only help where possible anyway.

In the distance one could see the enemy's homeland, the very things they were fighting so hard to protect: a collection of hour-glass shaped artificial space colonies that seemed to eternally shine like little stars, being both delicate and fragile.

Situated in front of these things were even more curious objects. One of them took the form of an asteroid, which had once been used to collect resources, but had been converted for the enemy's war machine, and was now their last line of defense along with the massive armada that surrounded it. There had been a second asteroid as well, but that one had been eradicated in a sea of flame. The other however, was far more eye catching: a single metallic satellite, dish shaped and as big as one of those colonies. It had only recently appeared, but once it had, it left a wake of destruction in its path that he was only lucky to have evaded. Many of his own kind hadn't shared his luck, and had fallen in the first barrage.

Instinctively he snapped himself out of the pause he had gone into when he heard his sensors beep in warning; three enemy mobile suits were heading toward him at high speed. He turned his own mobile suit to the direction of the incoming enemies, and saw that all three were those new mobile suit types that had started appearing merely weeks ago. His mouth immediately folded into a grin and he let out a laugh; even if they were new models, these three were fools to think that they could kill him. After all, so many had tried before and a few had even come close, but obviously no one had ever managed to do the deed.

Kicking on his mobile suit's thrusters, he charged at the enemy trio, swinging both his beam cannon and his gun launcher in their direction. With the firing range of either weapon, it would have been easy to kill his three aggressors before they'd managed to even fire a shot, but he had decided to give them a chance; arrogant yes, but that was the way he was, and his own skills more than made up for it.

Sure enough, his attackers came into their weapon ranges and began firing green beams at him, which he evaded effortlessly. Their aim wasn't terrible, but he could tell they were new at this game, likely trainees that were thrown in as a last minute defensive measure. Not that it mattered to him. After dodging a few shots, he returned fire, shooting two projectiles and a beam respectively. All of his shots hit straight on, striking the three mobile suits one by one and caused them to explode, adding their own flashes to the battle.

Now that had been accomplished, he scanned the area for new prey, and sure enough came across another pair of mobile suits, older ones than the three he had just killed, which were currently double teaming one of his comrades. Without thinking twice, he flew at them, and switched his weapons control over to the pair of missile launchers that were mounted on his suit's shoulders. When the crosshairs over either suit turned red, signifying that he had them locked, he pulled the trigger and felt the rush of six missiles exiting their tubes.

He managed to kill one enemy suit with that barrage, as three of the missile slammed into the grey giant's exposed back before the pilot could react. The second suit however, which was colored silver and a different model from its partner, saw the missiles coming earlier, and managed to turn around and swat down the other three missiles with its shield vulcan. He felt a sigh escape his mouth when the enemy suit lowered its other weapon, a hand-held autocannon, and fired off a burst; like that had ever worked against him before. He simply increased his mobile suit's velocity and essentially sped past the tracer rounds, then twisted around and fired a glancing shot from his gun launcher that pierced the silver suit in the torso, sending it to join its comrade.

After he saw the silver suit explode, he turned to check over his comrade to see if she was okay. The other pilot acknowledged and sent a 'thanks' for his assistance, only to then give out a quick warning. He turned around just in time to see another one of those new models bearing down on him, this time using a pair of wire-guided grappler weapons to try and snare him. With a jerk of his controls, he pulled his suit in reverse, letting the grapplers fly past. Seeing that its surprise attack had failed, the enemy pilot put his own suit into full burn, withdrawing the grapplers and extending a pair of magenta colored energy claws from the left arm mounted shield.

Again without thinking he reached over to his backpack and drew one of his own beam sabers to parry the intending blow. This would be more of a challenge for him; he was not as well versed in melee as he was with medium to long-ranged combat. But he seemed to be good enough, as he parried the slashes that his opponent made at him and counterattacked just as quickly. His initial attack managed to score the enemy suit's right arm, taking the beam rifle with it, which only served to anger his opponent by the flash of the green suit's mono-eye. Seeing a potentially drawn out battle with sword and claw, he settled for kicking the green suit away, and then using the opportunity to switch over to his beam cannon, level it and fire a snapshot through the enemy's cockpit in mere seconds.

With the knowledge of the enemy pilot's demise fresh in his mind, he sped away from the now dead mobile suit, not caring to see if it would explode or not. He then placed the beam saber back onto its appropriate mount and once again began to search out for a new target when a bright green flash of energy, one that was far more powerful than any weapon that could be carried on a mobile suit, shot by him by meters. When he looked up to see the source of the beam, his grin took on an almost predatory nature.

It was an enemy destroyer, one that was heading straight toward him at a high speed. He wasn't sure if it was specifically coming after him or if he was just an obstacle in its pursuit for larger prey, but he could see that it was gunning for him all the same. Moving quickly he made his suit ascend as another pair of green beams and a quadrant of missiles shot through the area where he had once been.

With a hand that was steadier than most, he zigged and zagged past the beam fire and the projectiles. When he got closer it tried to swat him down with its point defense guns, but those didn't have any better luck than the initial attacks. It never ceased to amaze how difficult it was to shoot down a mobile suit, even with a massive warship.

Coming so close that the destroyer filled up most of his monitor, he put his suit into a climb, until he was well over the ship's bridge. Knowing that he was in a major blind spot from the enemy ship's point defense weaponry, he docked his gun launcher together with his beam cannon, took aim at the bridge and fired a massive bright yellow beam. The results were nothing short of spectacular: from the angle of the shot, the beam ripped through the bridge, punched into the engineering section of the destroyer and then out the ventral end of the ship. After a single moment, secondary explosions ripped across the destroyer's surface, a chain reaction caused by having its main reactor blown apart, until the entire ship was engulfed in the explosion.

This was one of the things he liked most about his mobile suit, as very few in existence had the ability to destroy a warship with a single shot. Of course, he also had some part in it, having perfected that shot technique on seven other destroyers in previous battles; the firepower of his mobile suit only made things much easier.

And once again he laughed. Laughing at his foolish enemies, laughing at their inability to kill him despite all of their advantages and above all else laughing that through everything he still lived when many didn't. It was pure gold to him; after all the hype and propaganda the enemy put out about genetic superiority and being the "next stage in evolution", nothing they dished out could defeat him and the many others of his level. The irony alone warranted his laughter.

But then his laughter silenced. His sensors were picking up a new adversary, coming in faster than anything he came across before. Its yellow eyes shown with virulence as it charged at him, weapons ready…

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – somewhere in Queensland, en route to Brisbane  
May 4th, CE 101**

Even when Virgil Reneghan awakened and bolted upright in alarm, it took a few moments for him to realize that it was all a dream. That he was on Earth and still onboard the _Odyssey_. And it took even longer for him to calm himself down and to steady his breathing; the nightmare had been that vivid.

Feeling himself begin to cool down from his sweat mixed with the relatively low temperature of around him, he allowed himself to relax and lay back again. Currently he was out on the _Odyssey_'s top deck, lying back on a lounge chair enjoying the cool winds that passed along the deck and looking up at the sky. As he usually was for the occasion, he was dressed in only a pair of green swim trunks, leather sandals, sunglasses to block the brightness of the sun from his eyes, a pair of headphones in his ears that were attached to a portable music player in his right hand and lots and lots of sunscreen. Naturally both the activity and his choice of attire for it were widely considered eccentric at best, but as Virgil saw it, the _Odyssey_ was his home, and a man had a right to do anything he wanted in the comfort of his home. Besides, compared to other antics that occurred on the battleship, Virgil's sunbathing was relatively excusable.

As the track on the music played switched over to a new song, specifically Led Zeppelin's timeless classic "Stairway to Heaven", Virgil once more found himself looking up at the sky through the shades of his angular sunglasses. So far he had only seen three or four clouds floating without disturbance and an unknown aircraft flying at high altitude, fast enough that it was leaving a distinct contrail behind it. To anyone else there wouldn't have been much to look at, but the kept secret was Virgil wasn't trying to look at the sky itself. He was trying to look _beyond_ it.

However, while his eyes continued to scope the field of blue for any signs of distinction, Virgil's mind operated in an entirely different area, as he contemplated his nightmare and the many similar ones he had been having over the past few months. _They're certainly getting more frequent. I wonder if Ian or Doc Winter are also having them._

He shook his head a little at that last line, smirking like he usually did. _Heh, yeah right. Ian's a closet insomniac and the Doc… he's a pervert with a medical fetish. His subconscious could be narrowed to "little girls, bandages and him chasing them with a scalpel."_

Letting himself show some amusement for a moment, Virgil's expression turned serious once again as he thought to himself. _Still, they are bothersome, those dreams. I hope they don't become an issue in the future. I'm already screwed up enough._

His line of thinking, however, didn't last very long. Before Virgil was able to see it coming, his view of the sky became blocked out by a very familiar face, one that could have been considered beautiful and angelic in design had it not been for the narrowed glare that it now expressed. Virgil had no trouble recognizing the face of Lynsie Schneider. "Are you the lady who's sure that all that glitters is gold?"

"We've gone over this before Virgil, you can't keep coming out here whenever you want. What would happen if we suddenly came under attack now?" Lyn stated, hands on her hips that made her likable to a scolding housewife.

Virgil arched an eyebrow and leaned up casually from the lounge chair. "Oh come on Lyn, don't be like that. Why don't you join me even; there's room for two." He offered suggestively.

Lyn sighed. "I'm being serious Virgil…"

"What else is new?" Virgil rolled his eyes, fully aware that the glasses kept Lyn from seeing the action.

"…If something happens to you out here, we'll be down one mobile suit ace and team leader, and that the ship in a very good position." Lyn explained.

The mobile suit ace in question just greeted her with a laugh. "You worry too much Lyn. Unless our enemies come at us with something equipped with a mirage colloid, I'll have plenty of time to make a run back into the ship. Besides, after what we did to Scarface a week ago, I doubt anyone else on this continent would try to mess with us now."

The exec wasn't exactly convinced with Virgil's explanation, but inside she knew she wouldn't be able to get the pilot to move without physical force. So she conceded and waved him off. "Fine, do as you wish, but don't blame me if you end up a bloodstain on the deck."

"Deal." Virgil said, lounging back to look at the sky again.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed that for some reason Lyn hadn't walked away, but rather remained standing next to him while looking out at the horizon herself. The wind blowing through her forest green hair, combined with her form and how she was looking in awe toward the distance made her look very picturesque. Virgil found himself wondering if Lyn knew just how "appealing" she was.

_Too bad she has to be a bitch most of the time, even if her job calls for it._ Virgil thought to himself. Feeling a little awkward with her still standing there, he decided to start up a conversation. "See anything interesting?"

Lyn shrugged. "Not really, just open desert. I think I can see Brisbane coming up in the distance, but it's still too far out."

"Ah Brisbane. 'You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.'" Virgil quote, paraphrasing a line from an old movie. "First Carpentaria and now this hellhole. Ian sure has some interesting picks in destinations."

"I agree with you, but we don't have much choice in the matter. We have to stop at Brisbane to service; otherwise we'll never make it to North America." Lyn said.

"I know that Lyn, but it's still not the best spot in the world. But then I could say that about this whole continent." Virgil said, as he looked at his arms. "I wonder if I'm catching sunburn…"

Lyn looked at him reassuringly. "It won't be a long stop, and I think most of the crew will appreciate it, since they didn't get leave at Carpentaria as planned."

"They do get pretty rowdy, don't they? I really don't envy you or Ian with having to run this Looney Tunes short we call a battleship." Virgil said.

Lyn actually found herself agreeing with that description of the ship's crew, despite her position. "Speaking of rowdy, how go the sims with your team's newest member?"

Now it was Virgil's turn to frown. "A bitch and a half. Ryoko is a great pilot, and she has the maintenance skills to keep the Noir running herself, but it's hard to keep a game plan together with her rebelliousness. Granted, she's never fought alongside anyone she could trust with her life before, but she just doesn't coordinate well in a team effort, if you'll pardon the expression."

"I doubt being on the same team as Gabriel Zola would help that either." Lyn commented.

"Actually, Gabriel's very professional in the cockpit; at least enough that he'll hold back on the anti-coordinator tangent until _after_ his day job is over." Virgil said, thinking.

Lyn inwardly groaned. "I know she has a Gundam herself, but was it really a good idea to put her on your team Virgil? From the sound of things, I'd recommend shooting them both and saving yourself the ulcers they would undoubtedly cause."

"Lynsie, Lynsie. You're missing the point of all this." Virgil's grin returned. "I didn't just pick either of those two because they're aces; I find them interesting, and I like keeping interesting people around myself. Life would be boring without their kind."

Lyn gave Virgil a skeptical glance. "You sound like a crazed serial killer."

The Verde Buster pilot just shrugged. "Might as well be, I've killed enough people."

It was scary how Virgil could say that so casually and without a hint of remorse, but Lyn didn't let it bother her. As she began to turn away to leave the Verde Buster pilot alone, she stopped after one last question came into her mind. "Out of curiosity Virgil, why do you like sitting out here? I doubt it's for a tan."

The smirk on Virgil's face folded downward into a serious frown at that question, and he once again looked back up to the sky. "Because I can't help but keep wondering… could _they_ still be up there?"

It took a short moment for Lyn to realize what Virgil was really referring to, but when she did, her stern expression loosened as she looked toward the pilot in sympathy. That had always been a serious matter to him, one that he never really liked to talk about. But finding satisfactory in the fact she had her answer, Lyn turned and walked away to leave the pilot alone, as he was before.

* * *

"…we got most of the dents and bullet holes fixed on the mobile suit, but it'll take some more time to repair the Jet Striker, since it took a full shotgun burst in that last fight. If we run into bad guys any time soon, you'll have to fight Windam only." May said as she looked over her datapad.

Thomas Kurtz replied with an annoyed grunt, clearly not pleased. "Exactly how much time will it take to fix my Striker?"

The young chief mechanic just shrugged. "Assuming we don't run out of manpower and spare parts, it'll probably take four to five days. Less if I decide I like you."

"And finding a replacement in Brisbane?" Kurtz asked bluntly.

"About as likely as George Glenn and Elvis showing up in a '53 Chevy Corvette. In other words, don't expect it." May replied without looking up from her pad.

"Goddamn it." Kurtz snarled under his breath, although it wasn't low enough that the mechanic in front of him wouldn't pick it up. "I thought you were supposed to be a miracle worked Kauwin. Don't tell me you're just full of shit."

This time May did look up to fix the Windam pilot a glare. "Remember the reason why I have to fix your mobile suit in the first place _dummkopf_. You were stupid enough to get shot in the ass, and now I'm the one who has to pull out the shrapnel. So before you piss and moan about my job, you should get fucking better at your own."

"Feh. I'm good enough at my job, and my record proves it. Just do whatever it is you have to do to fix my Windam and tell me when you're done." Kurtz said, the statement sounding more like a threat than anything else. Apparently saying all that he cared to, he turned and made his way out of the hangar deck.

"_Essen scheiße und drosselklappe, arschloch_!" May called out after him, giving Kurtz a raspberry just before he disappeared around the corridor.

Deciding that she was content with the way she handled Kurtz, she walked down the walkway from the Windams. Making it past the stationed Blu Duel and Verde Buster, and all the way up to the mobile suit that was at the front of the hangar: the Strike Noir itself. The reasoning for this was simple and made sense; out of all six of the _Odyssey_'s mobile suits the Noir was the fastest and possessed the longest operating range, so it had been generally agreed by everyone that the Gundam would also be the fastest to launch into battle. Thus, the winged mobile suit had replaced the Verde Buster as head of the mobile suit line running down the hangar deck.

Walking down the catwalk to the front of the mobile suit, May, as she had expected, found Ryoko Nagato sitting in her open cockpit typing away on the fold out keyboard. She had been there regularly ever since the battle against Dan's Destroyers; May assumed it had to do with her initial difficulty with controlling the Noir.

When May came close to the cockpit area, however, her ears picked upon a slow paced melody coming out of the Gundam's audio system, accompanied by the angelic voice of a female singer that May couldn't identify. "I've never heard this kind of music before. It's beautiful."

"It's Lacus Clyne." Ryoko replied without looking up.

"Eh?" May looked at her curiously.

"The singer is Lacus Clyne." Ryoko clarified. "The song itself is called 'In a Silent Night'."

"Oh, so that's the legendary Songstress." May said, clearly impressed. "I can see why she was so popular. Then again, are you sure it's not Meer Campbell? I heard they're almost identical."

Ryoko shook her head knowingly. "I've heard Meer's music, and between her and Lacus she has a higher pitch. And besides that, her songs tend to be fast paced and loud, compared to Lacus' softer and slower tones. That's not to say Meer was a bad singer, but I always preferred original's style over the imitation."

"I see." May nodded in understanding, as she moved to lean against the side of the Strike Noir's torso. "What part of the Noir are you messing with now? Still having problems with the OS?"

"No, just making changes for those two guns we found at Carpentaria." Ryoko said.

What Ryoko was referring to specifically were a pair of Earth Alliance vintage M300D 57mm "Torrent" high-energy beam rifles, which were laid out on the hangar floor in front of the Noir. This type of beam rifle was infamous for being the primary weapon of the original Duel Gundam and its descendents, as well as for the unique feature of also being equipped with a 175mm grenade launcher underneath the barrel, and so when the _Odyssey_'s base raiders found several of them in Carpentaria's weapons storage depot they were immediately taken aboard the land battleship without any second thoughts or objections.

The plan for the rifles was to give the Blu Duel and the Strike Noir additional firepower beyond either of their beam pistols, as the other four mobile suits all had beam rifles of their own. Both pilots seemed to appreciate that idea, and both Ryoko and Gabriel had quickly picked out two rifles for either of their MS. May wondered if that was the first time either had agreed on anything since Ryoko had come aboard the _Odyssey_.

The chief mechanic looked back into the cockpit, a little confused at Ryoko's explanation. "I thought the Noir was already capable of using the Torrent since it's Alliance built."

"It is, but I like to put in my own adjustments. I've used this kind of beam rifle before, so I know what the appropriate settings are." Ryoko said.

"I'll take your word for it. Just don't complain to me if they explode from misfiring." May said dryly.

The Gundam pilot responded by flashing a smirk, but then another matter came to mind and she looked up from her monitor. "Since we're stopping there, what exactly is Brisbane like? Anything to do there, or should I just stay on the ship?"

May laughed a little. "Brisbane was one of the cities that got hit head on by a Junius Seven fragment back during Break the World; it was a small piece, but almost half of the city was wiped out anyway. The crater is still there too, even attracts tourists."

A sudden _clang_ that echoed throughout the hangar caused May pause, as she and Ryoko both looked up to see the source. When they found it to be nothing serious, May continued. "Since then the city's become a giant renegade port, where most of the less-than-savories on this continent love to hang out. There's a government and some law enforcement, but they don't hold much power. They just sit back and let the local populace run amuck whenever the urge hits."

Ryoko cast a skeptical glance. "And we're stopping there to resupply, why?"

"Because it's one of the few areas of civilization left in this wasteland. Besides Brisbane, there's Sydney and Canberra, which are even more lawless, Melbourne which is currently being run by one of our enemies, and Darwin which is on the other side of the continent. There was also Carpentaria, but we all know what happened there." May said with a heavy sigh at the lack of options.

The Strike Noir pilot herself stared at the floor at that last sentence, remembering how she was supposed to have left the ship at Carpentaria. "Are there any good places to get a drink?"

That question made May brighten up. "Virgil knows a place that actually has some good drinks. You'll like it; that is if you can drink with people that make the members of Blue Cosmos look like moral, upstanding human beings."

"May, I grew up in a town that was literally run at gunpoint by such people." Ryoko replied, now giving a full, confident grin. "Believe me, I can handle things if one of them reaches for my ass."

"You better, because I wouldn't step in to save it."

Both Ryoko and May turned around to see Gabriel Zola walk up the gantry to the front of the Noir, looking straight at the coordinator pilot with disdain. Ryoko mirrored his expression, but added a tinge of annoyance to her own. "What the hell do _you_ want now?"

Gabriel just shrugged. "Thought I heard a funny noise coming from this end of the hangar; should have known it was more of your crappy music."

"One who has no musical taste of his own should not criticize those that do have it. Now answer the fucking question or leave." Ryoko shot back with a sneer. She had already traded barbs with Gabriel over her choice of music a few days back, when he had walked into the pilot's lounge while she was using the stereo to listen to her Lacus Clyne memorabilia. Ryoko was not looking to reenact that event.

"Since this will be your first time in Brisbane, Captain Lee wanted me to lay down the guidelines for you." Gabriel replied, holding his animosity in check so that he could get his task over with.

"First and foremost, you never go anywhere alone; you either travel in a group or you don't leave the ship. I'm sure May's already told you what the locals are like, so you can see why. Second, there are certain sections of the city that should be avoided, namely the ones closest to the Junius crater; those areas have never recovered from Break the World, and people disappear in them all the time. Third, since you're a woman, or at least _physically_ a woman, expect to have problems with the male populace, as many of them don't take 'no' for an answer." Gabriel explained.

Ryoko looked at him skeptically. "Does the Captain also want me to look both ways when I cross the street?"

May let out a chuckle while Gabriel fixed an annoyed glance. "Just because you lived in a bad town doesn't mean you're just as tough everywhere else. Brisbane is a big city, something you've never been to before and we have lost crew members there in previous visits. If you don't want to end up like them, then you sure as hell better follow what I've just told you."

The young coordinator arched an eyebrow. "You seem concerned for a guy that hates my genetically engineered guts."

Gabriel opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped short as he contemplated that statement. After a moment, he flashed a scowl and answered. "As much as I hate you, and believe me I hate you a lot, you're still a member of this ship's crew, and I don't want to see the Captain and everyone else get upset because you wound up dead."

The Blu Duel pilot then turned around and walked away. "Don't say I didn't warn you!" he yelled as he disappeared down the walkway.

Ryoko stared blankly at the broad back of the Gabriel Zola in confusion. "I can't tell any more May. Does that guy really hate coordinators or is that just a form of 'tough love'?"

The chief mechanic gave off another heavy sigh in acknowledgment. "Don't ask me. Only Virgil and the Captain can tell what's going on in Gabriel's head; the rest of us just aren't fluent in _arschloch_."

"_Ars_-what?" Ryoko asked in confusion.

"Asshole." May clarified, remembering that not everyone on the _Odyssey_ understood her German. "Either way, I'd keep avoiding him if I were you. No telling when he'll go off and do something stupid."

"You're preaching to the Pope, May." Ryoko replied quickly, focusing on her typing again.

* * *

Stifling a yawn, Ian Lee placed his head over his closed right fist as he watched the city of Brisbane grow bigger and bigger from the perspective of the bridge viewport. Unlike Carpentaria, he didn't have that sinking feeling this time around, but it still bemused him how the approach was similar. _Whoever invented the godforsaken concept of "déjà vu" should have been executed as an enemy of humanity._

He and the rest of the bridge crew could hear the jet engines of an AMRF-101C AWACS DINN fly overhead, shadowing the land battleship and undoubtedly reporting back to its superiors every detail it could make out about the ship. For a brief moment, the former ZAFT mobile suit dropped in altitude and came to a stop just in front of the bridge, and Lee could see the helmet fold back to reveal the angular head, red mono-eye focusing right into the bridge, then shifting end to end before the helmet folded back into place and it took to the skies again. They hadn't been hailed yet, but the Captain knew it was only a matter of time before someone contacted them, especially since they undoubtedly now knew that this intrusive battleship was the _Odyssey_ and it was still being commanded by Ian Lee.

Sure enough, Simone placed a hand upon her headset and looked from her station toward him. "Captain, we're being hailed from the city. It's Patience."

"That didn't take long." Lee said in what could have been considered dry sarcasm had it been a different speaker. "Put her up on the overhead Simone."

The CIC operator did as she was instructed and the overhead video screen at the front of the bridge flickered to life, displaying the visage of a woman well into her sixties, complete with wrinkled face, white hair, and a no-nonsense but otherwise pleasant demeanor that spoke volumes of her character. Most noticeable was the dark brown 'cowboy hat she wore, which was just as rough looking as its wearer. The woman offered him a friendly smile. "Ian Lee, it's been a while."

Lee returned the smile. "Hello Patience, and yes it has."

"I must say, it is a surprise to see you around these parts again. Last I heard you and the _Odyssey_ were somewhere in China making life hell for certain people." Patience Hogan said in a British accent rather than an Australian one. She gave Lee an inquiring look. "How'd that turn out for you?"

"We made a good haul on that one." Lee answered. "I see that you're still the Mayor."

"Only because I have the most hired guns in this city." Patience replied. "I take it you're not dropping by for tea and crumpets, especially since I also heard Carpentaria is no more. Too bad really, that rat bastard Eisley owed me money."

"My apologies on that." Lee said with his dry tone again. "Rest assured we won't be staying long Patience, just enough that we can get fueled and supplied. We have a long road ahead of us."

"Really? Where you off to now Lee?" Patience inquired.

"North America. Certain opportunities have presented themselves there." Lee answered bluntly.

Patience thought on that for a moment, but then gave Lee a knowing expression. That seemed to be a good enough answer for her. "I suppose you'll also want to give your crew leave before you make that long trip. And speaking of, how is the Demon of Victoria doing these days? He's become rather infamous here since that incident."

Lee cast a narrowed glance. "I assure you that won't happen again…"

The mayor of Brisbane only gave a short chuckle. "Are you kidding? Four of those people were business rivals of mine and the rest had it coming anyway. Your man actually did me a good favor that night. That said, your crew are free to enjoy what little Brisbane has to offer; just tell your boys to be gentle on the real estate."

Lee was about to sign off on that, but then he remembered something vital he needed to ask. "One last question regarding Carpentaria. Have you heard any rumors regarding a black Strike mobile suit?"

Patience rubbed her chin as she tried to recall. "Nope, I've heard nothing regarding a mobile suit of that description. All that's been said about Carpentaria is Dan Noachim came through, razed it, and then ran like a whipped dog when you guys appeared. But don't worry, none of Dan's boys have made it here to my knowledge."

"Very well." Lee acknowledged, letting himself relax a little. "We'll send you coordinates for a rendezvous point outside of town."

"I'll get a greeting party together then. See you around Lee." Patience replied for the final time. The video screen then dimmed as the transmission was cut off.

"Well, it appears we're off to a pleasant start, Captain." came the dry voice of Cameron Winter from the bridge's doorway.

Lee turned his head to peer back at the doctor, who was standing in the doorway with his arms folded. "You don't sound happy Doctor. Is something wrong?"

The _Odyssey_'s chief medic's response was to push his glasses up his nose so that it gave off a glare of reflected light. "No doubt many of the crew will come back with injuries to attend to."

The captain gave off a chuckle. "Yes, that is likely. I thought you would be ecstatic."

"I find no enjoyment in treating wounds from drunken brawls." Winter stated up front. "In fact, I find them quite irritating, if only because they could all be avoided if your crew were more civilized."

"If they were more civilized Doctor, they wouldn't be working for me." Lee said, checking his watch. It would only be two more hours before nightfall, which Lee reflected would be the time the bulk of his crew would want to get off the ship. "How is our medical supply holding out? Is there anything we need that we _didn't_ find at Carpentaria?"

Winter shook his head. "No, we're well prepared for the inevitable emergencies that will occur."

"Very well." Lee nodded with solemn approval, turning back to face the front. "And what of that other assignment I gave you? Any breakthroughs?"

"Not so much there." Winter replied with disappointment. "I've been held up with patients as of late, but I'm still confident that I will find something."

"I trust you will Doctor." was all Lee said to that.

* * *

**Brisbane, Queensland**

Dirt roads and decrepit looking buildings were not unfamiliar to Ryoko Nagato; it was how there were so many of them in one location that was new to her. The _Odyssey_ had long since put anchor just outside the city borders, and so several of the crew had gone into Brisbane. Ryoko, despite what she had been told earlier, was one of them, having joined a group consisting of herself, Virgil, Gabriel, May and Austin, who had insisted on coming to keep his much younger and temperamental boss out of trouble. Somehow they had all managed to fit into a jeep that was provided for them and were now speeding down a road going deeper into the city.

Looking out from the side of the jeep, Ryoko could see exactly how May described the city earlier. What once could have been a sprawling metropolis full of greenery and modernized real estate was now something of a vacant memory. Buildings, which looked to have once been skyscrapers, were now broken and poorly maintained, some of them still tilted over slightly from the great shockwave caused by the plunge over twenty eight years ago. No matter where one looked there was not a single trace of plant life beyond perhaps broken, lifeless trees or the remains of garden spots here and there. Driving further, the young pilot could see that the much vaunted Brisbane River still flowed a good distance away, but from what her superior eyesight could tell her, the water was not exactly clean and the bridges that ran across the river were all fractured. The waterline also seemed to have expanded into what were originally civilian areas.

But the part that bothered Ryoko the most were the people walking around the streets. They came in many shapes and sizes, but it was easy to tell who the locals were; they were the ones that wore the unfeeling, lifeless expressions over their faces and were either walking around in halfhearted motion to whatever their intended destination was or they were sitting at the sides of buildings or streets watching the jeep go by them. And as she looked at them, many of them looked back at her with unnervingly blank thousand yard stares that one only saw on those that were caught in ground zero of a catastrophe; a catastrophe that was Break the World. Ryoko shivered at those eyes, unconsciously cringing, as she remembered that the townspeople of Stirling Valley also looked like that.

_Is this truly what the rest of the world is going to look like?_ she thought, feeling a cold chill run through her insides.

"Not far from your little town, isn't it?" the sound of Virgil's voice snapped her from her thought, as if he knew what she was thinking.

It took a moment for Ryoko to reply. "No… It isn't." she admitted.

Virgil left off a soft chuckle. "Don't let it bother you. You're a Marauder now, so you don't ever have to look back."

"Marauder?" Ryoko blinked.

"It's what the rest of civilization calls our type: renegades that live off the scraps of humanity and serve no one but ourselves." Austin entered in, speaking factually.

"This isn't the Junk Guild. Don't make it poetic when it's not." Gabriel quipped.

May turned to leer at him. "Ugh, you have the balls to compare us to those monkeys? Just for that, I'm ripping the right arm off the Blu Duel when we get back."

"You and what Prussian army May?" Gabriel sneered back.

"_Prussian_!?" May practically jumped out of her seat to yell, her face now white with rage. "I'm from Hamburg you _Atlantisch_ _schwein_!"

"Like there's a fucking diff…" Gabriel started to growl back.

Virgil quickly came back into the conversation. "It's not exactly Hollywood, but Austin did describe it well. In this world, survival is a struggle. We don't associate with any of the major governments, so we do whatever we have to do to get by. We steal and salvage, we attack, we hijack, we hack, we crack, we shoot to kill; anything that's necessary to our survival. It's the life we live, but the way we see it, the ends justify the means."

This time he did turn to look back, grin in full force. "And now Ryoko, you're one of us. Congratulations, it's just the job you always wanted, right?"

"Heh." was Ryoko's only reply. Deep down, however, she did admit it to herself: this was exactly where she had wanted to be after earning her freedom, even if her grandfather had not wished it for her. _A Marauder's life for me…_

"We're here. Just in time too, sounds like it's happy hour" Virgil spoke up again as he pulled the jeep to a complete stop.

Ryoko looked up to see that the jeep had been parked in front of one of the rundown buildings, although this one was better lit and livelier than the ones she had seen before and one could hear the sounds of activity within. Up on top of the building was a flashing red neon sign that spelled out "The Devil's Pub"; Ryoko found the title ironically fitting.

Without any word, everyone quickly exited the jeep and started walking toward the building. Just as they were about to enter, a drunkard stumbled out of the swinging doors, who then began advancing toward May.

"Hey-a sheila… got any coin on ya…?" the man stuttered as he reached an arm out toward the teenage girl, who wasn't even looking back at him.

A response finally came in the form of Austin Baytes' massive fist connecting to the man's jaw, with enough force behind it that the drunkard actually was out even before his body fell to the ground. Not caring whether the man was still breathing or not, Austin stepped around the body and lead the way for everyone else in the group into the pub.

And with the same effect as a gas explosion, the lucid scents of smoke, alcohol and body odor all merged together and surged into Ryoko's sense of smell, and the loud sounds of voices booming, glasses _klinking_ together and fists hitting random surfaces drove right into her ears. She would have been nauseous if not for the fact she had long been used to it. _Yep, definitely happy hour._ She thought, unconsciously gritting her teeth. The rest of her party, however, didn't seem fazed at all.

They just stood there only for a brief moment to gaze at the scene before them. It was pure organized chaos, with the chaotic element outweighing the organized element. The bar was crawling with patrons of various forms, all coming together to drink beer and "socialize" among each other as much as renegades like them could. Almost every corner of the bar was filled, from the tables to the counter, except for a few select tables and the middle of the bar, which had been cleared to allow two men to fist fight each other with the surrounding tables cheering them on.

And then before Ryoko knew it, Virgil found a table and they all moved to sit down. Food and beers were delivered not long after.

"Not bad." Virgil declared after taking a swig. "Could be cooler though."

"You say that every time we come here Virgil." May stated as she took a long drink of her own.

Ryoko eyed this skeptically. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking May?"

The chief engineer looked back at Ryoko as if she had just been insulted. "Are you kidding? I'm German; I was taught to drink before I could even crawl. Besides, what law in this town is going to bust me for underage drinking?"

Austin looked at Ryoko with a fixed glance, as if to say he had also brought up the subject to May's attention but had been shot down. Ryoko nodded in response.

"Feh, I don't think this continent's had any law since the spacemen packed up and left." Gabriel muttered. "And that was over fifteen years ago."

"Actually, this part of the world has always been pretty lawless." Virgil explained. "The Oceania Union was only a token government at best, and ZAFT never fully occupied the continent. Not that they matter anymore."

"I'll be glad when we get off this oversized landfill and to some better stomping grounds." Gabriel said as he took a swig. When he finished, he glanced over at Ryoko, who hadn't touched her beer yet. "Are you going to eye it or going to drink? I guarantee it's not going to get up and do a trick if that's what you're waiting for."

"Go shove a 'Stiletto' up your ass." Ryoko retorted, leaning forward against the table. "But for once I got to agree with you Gabriel. I don't care where we go, the sooner we leave Australia behind the better. I've been here for too long to ever miss it."

"Hey hey, this is happy hour. And people don't take well to angsty teenage mobile suit pilots." Virgil stated.

That seemed to be enough for Ryoko to finally take a long gulp from her own glass. After she did, she looked around the room, concentrating on the fight in the middle. "Are all these people Marauders like us?"

Virgil shrugged. "Probably. This bar is particularly a favorite for drifters, but some of the locals also like it. The star attraction is what you're watching."

He gestured over to the fight, particularly to the big man dressed with chains all over his clothing and a shaved head with a tattooed devil on the scalp, who was wailing away at the other one. "That's Brutus McGraw, thug for hire. Height is 188 centimeters, weight is 110 kilograms and has the build and intelligence of an ape. When he's not raiding under defended towns or convoys in a mobile suit, he hangs out in this bar just to beat the crap out of people for entertainment. As far as I know, he's only lost a fight twice."

"What are the usual odds?" Ryoko asked, having noticed earlier people were passing bets around.

"About eight to one in Magilla's favor." May spoke plainly.

Taking those words in, Ryoko eyes narrowed further onto the combatants, concentrating on the blows exchanged and how each fighter was reacting. If her comrades had been looking at her rather than the fight, they would have seen that she wasn't simply watching it, but _analyzing_ it with apparent familiarity.

And then all at once the fight ended with a solid knockout punch, as the larger man, Brutus, sent his newest victim to the ground in a slump. The room was immediately filled with cheering as money was passed around from person to person. At the same time, two people entered into the fight ring and went over to the loser, whom they grabbed onto by the arms and proceeded to drag him out of the bar.

The _Odyssey_ group watched as the defeated man was pulled up to the door way, then picked up and tossed out onto the street with little care. "That didn't last long." Gabriel commented.

"Right!" Brutus roared to the crowd with a volume level that rivaled most audio systems. "Who among ya's next!? Who wants to get his ass kicked by Brutus McGraw!!" he jeered, the spectators cheering regardless of the taunts.

"He seems like fun." Ryoko muttered, flashing a grin while pushing her chair back and getting up.

The motion surprised everyone at the table. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Austin let out.

"Are you insane!? Against that _ungetüm_!?" May exclaimed, eyes widened.

"I promise it won't be long." Ryoko replied to him as she slipped off her leather jacket and placed on the chair. "Put me down for twenty when the bets start."

"You're confident, I'll give you that." Virgil said, looking at her with a twinge of curiosity. "But even if you are a coordinator, you're going to need more than genetically engineered strength to beat that guy. You think you can do it?"

"Damn straight." Ryoko replied simply.

_Interesting_. "Then kick his ass kid." Virgil said.

Ryoko nodded and walked off through the crowd, making her way toward the center of the makeshift ring to make her challenge. The others at the table looked at Virgil amazedly.

"What the hell did you just get her into Virgil!?" May yelled, already fearing the worst for her new friend.

"Just wait. I get the feeling we're going to see another side to Ryoko that none of us would have guessed." Virgil replied. Beside him, Gabriel said nothing.

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – outskirts of Brisbane, Queensland**

"Are you serious? One kid took out eight mobile suits in under three minutes and sent Dan Noachim crying to his mommy? Heh, sounds like you've got another Kira Yamato on your hands Lee!" Patience laughed pleasantly as she sat back on one of the chairs in Lee's office.

"That's how most of my crew reacted when it happened." Lee said while he poured a bottle of Bacardi into two drinking glasses. "I have to admit, she is more talented than I expected."

"As my long deceased mentor used to say, 'talent has a unique way of favoring the young'." Patience replied.

This earned a short chuckle from the _Odyssey_'s captain. After filling up the glasses, he came over at sat at his desk, handing one of them to Patience who was sitting directly in front of him. "I still can't believe you chose to run a city instead of another ship."

"Trust me Lee, if I was offered another chance to captain another ship like the _Hood_, I'd jump all over it. But as it stands now, I'd just end up with a cruddy land battleship like yours, no offense." Patience stated.

"None taken, and I know what you mean." Lee sighed. "I miss commanding a spaceship myself. Still can't get used to the transition after all this time either."

Patience's eyes narrowed as she took a sip from her glass. "What'd you command during the second one, when you ran off to join the Phantom Pain-In-The-Ass? I know it wasn't your old _Agamemnon_ carrier, you lost that one at Jachin Due."

"That was the _Leonidas_. And yes, I ended up losing her when Rau Le Creuset got the drop on us with that high end mobile suit of his, which I'd like to point out Murata Azrael's spies in the PLANTs failed to say anything about." Lee rolled his eyes from behind his glasses. That little addition to the Second Battle of Jachin Due still annoyed him even in his memories.

But he pushed those thoughts back and continued his explanation. "The ship I commanded with the 81st Battalion on the other hand, was a new ship that was based on the _Archangel_-class. She was named the _Girty Lue_."

"After the Battle of Girty Lue itself?" Patience replied, remembering the details of that battle and that it was the first Earth Alliance victory against ZAFT. "Never heard of any ships like that."

"You wouldn't have. Her existence was classified at top level; she didn't even have Earth Alliance markings on her." Lee said.

Patience waited a moment before she spoke her next question. "Was that the ship that…?"

Lee held himself back from sighing out loud as he remembered. "Yes, that's the ship I lost at the Battle of Daedalus when Lord Djibril decided to run like the cowardly worm he was. I barely survived that time. Just as the bridge was going to be hit, my XO shoved me into the elevator and sealed it; a second later the entire bridge was vaporized. Then without anyone at the helm, the ship crashed and that's when it all went black for me. Don't know how I lived through the explosion that followed."

Lee saw that Patience was giving him a sympathetic glance, to which he frowned at. "And that was my very last space command, and probably the one I miss the most too. There were a lot of good people on that ship, and many of them went down with her."

"I know the feeling." Patience said. "To this day, I still wish I could go back into space one last time to command a ship. I don't even care what kind of ship it would be; I'd even take one of those little _Drake_-class escort ships. But just to see the Earth from above…"

"Yes." Lee said. He then reached up and took a long drink from his glass. When he put the glass down again, a twinge of sadness crossed his face, but only for a second. "But for now I'm content to be in command of the _Odyssey_. I wouldn't trade her in for anything unless someone discovered another like the _Girty Lue _and had a mass driver to get her into space."

Patience laughed at that. "Heh heh heh, good luck with that. Thanks to ZAFT's final calling card, all the mass drivers were destroyed to keep us naturals from getting into space again."

"I remember. I can still recall the news reports of that day." Lee said. "But even so, I believe that I'll return to space again, whether tomorrow, ten years from now, or longer."

"I'll give you this much Lee, you're more optimistic than I am." Patience considered, then raised her glass. "I tell you what though, if you ever do find a way to get back up to the void, give me a call. It'll be nice to see one of us return to the stars."

"That's something to drink to." Lee said, holding out his glass. "To the stars and humanity's glorious return."

The sound of clinking glasses followed not long after and both took their drinks. As if on cue, the clinking was followed by another sound; specifically that of an explosion happening nearby. It was a distant one but both Lee and Patience still hear it through the walls and could all feel the rumblings. Quickly, the captain picked up the communications receiver on his desk, switched it to overhead, and then pressed the line for the bridge.

"Lee to Bridge. What's going on Lyn!?" he demanded quickly, fearful that some of Dan's men had caught up with them.

"Explosions within the city Captain, likely from high-yield detonations. A whole block of buildings just collapsed." Lyn replied. Lee could tell that she was looking through a pair of binoculars rather than at the _Odyssey_'s sensor station. "It was close, but we seem to be out of danger."

Patience groaned. "Looks like another gang war. Those are always a headache."

Lee put down the receiver and became serious. "You need help on that? Most of my pilots have gone into town, but one or two might still be onboard."

"No thanks, it's nothing my guys can't handle." a twinge of confusion then came across Patience's face. "And aren't you worried about your men? They could be at the center of that!"

This time, Lee actually laughed heartedly. "It'll take more than _that_ to kill any of my current crew. Trust me." he said dryly.

* * *

_I truly detest this city. _Cameron Winter thought when he felt his sickbay vibrate and the lights dim for a second. The vibrations had been enough that it actually caused some of the liquid in his coffee cup to spill onto his lap. Fortunately the coffee wasn't super hot, but it did leave a large brown stain on his otherwise pristine white coat. From one annoyance to another it seemed.

Despite his irritation though, Winter was too involved in his work to give it too much attention. Taking a sip from his coffee cup, which was engraved with a curious mark of two hands clasping together with the words "God Hand" written over them, he put the cup aside and continued to look over physical data of Ryoko Nagato. It had been his little pet project for the last couple of days, when there wasn't any patients or any other obstacles to keep him from his work. Winter just hoped he could get something done on it before the crew members that went on leave returned with the inevitable cuts and bruises they would likely receive.

For the most part, Ryoko truly fit the mold for a teenage coordinator female, but not the kind everyone expected. Although she lacked any outlandish features that separated coordinators from naturals, such as an overly structured face or brighter colored hair or eyes, she still had a coordinator's physique and body performance level; features that could only be seen on paper instead of on the subject. Her tomboyish personality didn't betray her true identity either; to Winter's knowledge impulsiveness and short temperaments were traits commonly seen in male coordinators throughout recorded history, not females. Combine that with her rebelliousness to authority and you had the perfect anti-thesis to the prevailing fantasy that all female coordinators were like Lacus Clyne with D-cups.

Needless to say, it was little wonder how Ryoko could have lived in a natural based society without raising any suspicions. But that wasn't what Winter was looking for; he already knew that she was a coordinator. The thing that he was looking for was whether or not she was _that_ kind of coordinator.

Unfortunately the only evidence Winter had toward that hypothesis was her performance in battle. Granted, he knew fighting Gabriel Zola and Dan Noachim into their respective corners, as well as sending various renegades to face their judgment were no easy tasks. However she was already an experienced mobile suit pilot, apparently even before she had gained the Strike Noir and came onboard the _Odyssey_, and in the past there had been natural mobile suit pilots that had done similar feats. No, her combat skill and battle record only offered possibilities, not the concrete evidence he sought.

But so far Winter was unsuccessful at finding anything specific from Ryoko's physical data. Everything on the screen in front of him pointed that Ryoko was only a regular factory line coordinator, albeit with a higher physical level than normal. Winter considered the possibility of running additional tests with the young pilot to see if any new, relevant data appeared, but it would be difficult to do it without raising alarms with her. And he knew Ryoko was the type that hated doctors, medical exams and anything involved with Winter's profession.

_Still, there is definitely something different about her. Perhaps Captain Lee and Virgil really aren't too far off with this theory… _he thought, unconsciously leaning back on his chair.

The sliding open of the sickbay door snapped Doctor Winter from his thoughts and he looked up to see a crewman, wearing the orange and white overalls of a mechanic, walk through the door with his left hand holding a cloth to his bleeding right hand. It appeared to be a deep cut, if the dampness of the cloth was any indication.

"I… I had an accident Doc…" the man admitted sheepishly, as if embarrassed.

_A true understatement if there was one._ Winter thought as he got up, shifting his lab coat; the Doctor was in once more. "Alright, sit down on the bed and let me take a look at that hand."

* * *

**Devil's Pub – Brisbane, Queensland**

"Get that bitch!"

"Make the bitch beg for more!"

"Save some of that bitch for the rest of us!"

_I am seriously getting tired of everyone calling me that._ Ryoko thought with irritation as the crowd continued to jeer her, but to her credit they weren't able to break her concentration. Her eyes were dead set and focused, scanning for every detail they could make out on her opponent, who was also making several unsavory quips about what he was going to do to her after the fight. Ignoring these quips, the coordinator simply paced around the ring in a semi-circle, her eyes never looking away as if Brutus McGraw were the center of her universe. It could all be described as 'predatory' by the casual observer, but that description was lost on the crowd as they concentrated more on the fact she was a woman than anything else.

Without losing Brutus from her field of vision, she made a side glance back at her table, enough that her genetically augmented sight could see how her comrades were all watching her. May and Austin both wore looks of worry on their expressions, while on the other end Gabriel just watched with indifference, not caring about whether Ryoko got beaten or not, but at the same time not cheering for the other guy either. Virgil, however, Ryoko couldn't describe; his expression was, for once, serious, but not out of fear for her safety. Instead, it was as if he was watching to see just what Ryoko was going to do.

"Hey, eyes front woman!" Brutus called out in a gruff and drunk voice, waving his hands toward his chest for visual effect. Even from a distance, Ryoko could smell the cheap alcohol in his breath. "Just cause you're chick don't mean I'm gonna go easy! I'll just keep ya alive enough so I can have more fun with ya later!"

"You and what army Neanderthal?" Ryoko exclaimed dryly, raising her gloved fists.

Those words seemed to be enough to start the fight, because right after the young girl said them Brutus came charging at her, his own fist raised for a running punch. Ryoko dodged back just as he lunged. This only made Brutus throw several other punches, but Ryoko dodged them as well by either moving her head or stepping to the side or back. Those were pretty much the opening movements – no matter what kind of punch or attack Brutus through, Ryoko dodged with relative ease, but she herself couldn't fight back due to the ferocity of her opponent's attacks.

Back at the table, May was practically standing on her chair yelling. "What the hell are you doing Ryoko!? You're going to get overwhelmed that way!"

"This could be over quick." Gabriel muttered under his breath to Virgil. "Maybe one of us should step in and bail her out before…"

"Just wait." Virgil replied, stopping Gabriel in mid-sentence.

"Heh, ya dance around pretty quick. Sorta like a little fairy." Brutus said condescendingly as he lumbered to where Ryoko had jumped back from his last punch. He then raised his fist once more and threw another one. "But this ain't some dance class bitch!"

Ryoko replied by stepping to the side and twisting around Brutus' arm, and then much to the astonishment of the crowd performed a pair of handstand backflips that put her some distance away from the larger man. Even her own comrades were amazed at how efficiently she pulled it off.

The spectacle however, only served to anger Brutus McGraw. "Goddammit, how the fuck did ya do that!?"

Ryoko simply gave off a grin. "_Sore wa himitsu desu._"

"So-ree… huh?" Brutus rubbed his head in confusion.

"Figures. A dumbass ape like you wouldn't understand." Ryoko muttered, as if disappointed.

"Not everyone can speak Japanese like you do _bakayaro_! And do something besides dodging already, this is fucking boring!" Gabriel called out from behind the crowd.

Ryoko cast a glare toward her table. "You stay-"

And that's when Brutus took the opportunity and delivered a powerful right into Ryoko's face. To her credit, the girl didn't fall from such a hard hit, but it apparently stunned her enough that Brutus delivered three more punches, two to the face and one to the gut. The crowd roared with cheering as he continued to pummel Ryoko hard, who now was being pushed back, unable to dodge the assault this time around.

"Shit." Austin muttered as he and May started to get up to stop it before their friend was beaten to a pulp. They both knew that only a select few had been able to take such a beating without losing their ability to walk before.

"Both of you sit back down." Virgil commanded.

"What? Are you insane!?" Austin replied with astonishment. May was about to complain herself but Virgil answered before she could.

"Just relax." Virgil said again calmly, with the barest hint of his grin creeping up. "It's about to get much more interesting."

Before either of them could ask, Brutus finished his brawling with a kick to Ryoko's stomach, which sent her back into the arms of the crowd. They immediately grabbed her and pushed her back into the ring, to which she stumbled to keep from falling face first.

"I told ya I wasn't goin' easy on ya lady." Brutus chided, as he walked toward Ryoko casually, ready to finish his work. "Now let's get this show on the fuckin'…"

A sudden kick to the gut, one that was much harder than the merc would ever had anticipated coming from a woman, stopped him in his tracks, making him hunch over as he stumbled back, trying to regain his breath. It was also enough that he could taste his own blood.

"What? That was the best you could do?" Ryoko laughed, suddenly standing up straight with a vindictive smile on her face. The truly amazing part was that there wasn't so much a bruise on her face or anywhere else on her body. "After all that trash talk and all that _bitching_, I thought a big guy like you would have known how to fight, or at least had power behind his punches. Looks like I was wrong on both counts."

"How…?" Brutus coughed.

"As I said before." Ryoko said, assuming a fighting stance that some in the crowd recognized as a Martial Arts one. "_Sore wa himitsu desu._"

With that said, for the first time in the entire fight, Ryoko charged at Brutus. The larger man threw yet another punch to try and throw Ryoko off, but see easily evaded it and landed her own punch into his face. She then made a jump kick while Brutus was still staggering, followed by a combination of punches and palm thrusts that were placed to his head, chest and gut, all at a speed that was blurred to the naked eye.

When Brutus recovered enough of himself, he staggered forward swinging his fists around to clobber, the girl, but Ryoko simply jumped back as he did, letting him lose his momentum. A second later, she leaped in the air and performed a round house kick that hit square against Brutus' jaw, the strength of which made him spun as he fell to the floor, face landing first. He didn't get up from that one.

Silence erupted amongst the crowd as they watched Ryoko squat down and check for a pulse. Satisfied, she got back up and walked out of the circle, with the crowd parting way to allow her through. A moment later, activity once again came about as money was passed around to the winners.

In fact, when Ryoko reached her table again, Virgil was counting the stack of cash that had landed in front of him.

The others however, were clearly stunned, with May being the most apparent. "What… How…?" she stammered.

"Kishin-ryu." Virgil spoke up. "Am I right?"

Ryoko looked at him skeptically. "Yes… How did you know?"

"Yeah." Austin recovered quickly and cast Virgil a stare. "Just _how_ did you know about _all_ of it Virgil?"

"Something Ian told me before we came to pick up you and your grandfather." Virgil explained to everyone, not just Ryoko. "It appears Aizen-_san_ was quite the martial artist back in his day. Studied and mastered all sorts of combat styles, but his particular favorite was Kishin-ryu style Karate, the same form that Barry Ho used infamously. Being that you were his only granddaughter, and that self-confidence you displayed before you fought, I assumed Aizen passed on his skills over to you. Am I right Ryoko?"

Ryoko nodded solemnly at the mention of her grandfather again, taking back her seat. "It's true. _Ojii-sama_ taught me a lot of things before he died, from mechanics to martial arts. I never beat him in a fight, no matter what I did; I was hoping I'd be able to in the end, but you know what happened."

"Well, you're skilled at it, I admit that. I'd assume at _sandan_ level in the least." Virgil said, giving a knowing look. "But you shouldn't really waste it on less-than-capable fighters like that guy, even if you did hold back until the end."

"I won everyone money, didn't I?" Ryoko said defensively.

"That you did." Austin said fully grinning. "And for that Miss Nagato, we are very, _very _grateful."

"Here's your cut by the way." Virgil said with a wink, handing over a fairly hefty sum of money to Ryoko. "Should get you a few more Lacus Clyne albums."

Gabriel growled inwardly at the thought of the whole thing, but nobody paid attention. Even when Virgil handed him some cash as well, his dirty look still remained._ Now she knows kung-fu… This keeps getting better and better._ He thought with irritation.

"That's quite a haul you people made." someone outside of the table spoke up. Everyone looked up to see the creased face of an elderly man with gray hair tied back in a ponytail, thick dark gray eyebrows, and dressed in a black shirt, tan pants that barely concealed a stronger than average physique and a pair of goggles around his neck. "Who knew that teenage girls were so fearsome these days; sure taught these people a lesson."

"Say your piece or move along gramps." May warned. "And if you want money, it's your own fault for betting on the other guy, so don't bother us."

"Oh it's not that…" the old man said with a gleam in his eye. "But I do wonder how these people would react if they found out that the young lady there is a coordinator…"

Everyone instantly stopped what they were doing and looked back at the old man with expressions of shock and warning on their faces. Virgil himself, whose grin noticeably disappeared from his face, maneuvered his hand over the grip of his Luger, fully prepared to drop the newcomer on a moment's notice.

Apparently seeing the action, the old man raised hand. "It's alright, your secret's safe with me." He looked over to May. "And in actuality, I did bet on the young lady here; she was the first female to ever challenge Brutus McGraw, so I thought she'd have a trick up her sleeve."

"You still haven't gotten to the point _Jii-san_." Ryoko muttered with an edge.

"Right, right." the old man rubbed his head. "Before I say anything, have any of you people worked around mobile suits before?"

All five nodded, but they still remained skeptic.

"Good, because I have been working on one for a while now, but I need extra hands in order to finish the modifications I've been making. Nothing too hard, just some manual labor that I'm willing to pay handsomely for." the old man explained. To further the point, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a sack, which he tossed on the table right in front of Ryoko. The clinking sound that could only be made by coinage immediately rang out.

Hesitantly, Ryoko opened the sack and withdrew one of the coins, eyes widening as it was revealed to be a gold piece. "Grandpa…" she exclaimed.

The old man frowned at that title. "Never had any."

"Eh?" Ryoko looked in confusion.

"Never had grandchildren, so I'm not a grandpa." he clarified.

"Sounds attractive old man, but what's the catch…" Virgil asked just as his eyes caught sight of two more figures marching up to the table. All eyes soon turned to them. "And to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Our business is with the tough bitch only." one of them spoke out.

Ryoko inwardly sighed; she was becoming more and more popular as the night went on. "You guys want to me to beat the crap out of you too?"

The other one laughed. "Hell no. We're here because you really knocked it out of our mate Brutus; our doc says he's got at least seven broken bones and a shitload of bruising."

"Not my fault he was a sloppy fighter." Ryoko said.

"Fair enough." the man sharply replied. "Now, we're going to give you an offer. Either you hand us all of your money to pay for Brutus' hospital bill among other things, or we splatter your pretty little face all over this bar."

Ryoko was quick to get up on her feet to meet the challenge. "Tough talk from…"

She stopped when the man produced a gun and pulled back the hammer, but she didn't back down. This clearly annoyed the men. "I'm sorry. Did I make you think it'd be a fist fight we wanted?"

"Hey, hey, no need to go that far." Virgil waved his arm up.

"I said this ain't any of your business friend. Stay out of it before I blow your head off too." the man warned.

Virgil's grin swelled now. "What if I blow your guts out first?"

_BANG BANG_. The sounds rang throughout the entire bar, causing the patrons to turn and watch as the two men suddenly dropped to the floor, giving off agonized cries while putting the hands toward each of their stomachs, which now looked like they had been hit hard with sledgehammers, they had sprayed that much blood.

Virgil slowly got up from the table, keeping his smoking Luger trained between them as he walked over. "My apologies, I know how much of a bitch gut shots can be. The type of bullets this gun uses certainly doesn't help either."

"Bastard…" the one snarled trying to raise his gun up. This earned him another shot right through his wrist. Not only did the bullet hit, but it actually blew the entire hand, which was still clenching the gun, clear off the man's wrist, causing him to scream further as more blood was drawn.

"Better hope your doc friend is still here. At this rate, you two won't…" Virgil began to say.

"Virgil!" Gabriel called out in warning as he bolted up and drew his own guns. And with him everyone at the table was up and alert.

The Verde Buster pilot looked up to see that along with them, the other patrons were now on their feet, drawing their own guns and other weapons. Virgil slowly backed up until he was standing right next to Gabriel, both their guns trained on the patrons, while Ryoko, May and Austin remained behind them.

"Goddamn it."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Author's Notes: **For those wondering, my explanation for the _Girty Lue_'s name, in that it was named after a famous battle during the First Bloody Valentine War, _isn't_ the official explanation. It's just one of my theories behind the battleship's name, since I doubt there are any people with that name and the Battle of Girty Lue has a nice ring to it. As for details on the event, this is what I came up with:

Battle of Girty Lue – Known by historians as the Earth Alliance's first major victory in the Bloody Valentine War. On March 4, CE 70, the Earth Alliance deployed its 5th and 6th Fleets to launch a retaliatory strike for the Battle of Yggdrasil, which only unraveled weeks ago, against the ZAFT resource satellite Girty Lue. Despite the heavy losses on both sides, the Earth Alliance forces were able to launch a nuclear strike before N-Jammers could be deployed, thus wiping out the ZAFT garrison and capturing the satellite. Girty Lue was then stripped of all available resources and technology, and finally put to self-destruct.

The _Girty Lue_ itself was named not only to honor the memory of that battle and those who died in it, but also as a middle finger to the coordinators, who consider the defeat at Girty Lue as a Stalingrad that almost was, because right after that battle the Earth Alliance went on a massive winning streak which only came to an end with Operation Uroboros.


	8. Phase 07: Those Left Behind

_"There are two types of veterans in the world: the veterans that tell their war stories to their grandkids and the veterans that don't. What's funny about that is the said grandkids are always more interested in the ones that don't."  
_- Morgan Chevalier

**Phase 07: Those Left Behind**

**Outside the Devil's Pub – Brisbane, Queensland  
May 5th, CE 101**

Pandemonium ensured as almost all at once, the sounds of gunshots, explosions and cursing erupted from the Devil's Pub. And to make matters worse, one of those said explosions had caused the building to catch on fire, causing a column of smoke and flame to rise into the air, as if a signaling device to warn that all hell had just broken loose. Seeing that there was no point in staying there, the crew members of the _Odyssey_ ran out of the pub, with Gabriel Zola and Virgil Reneghan firing back into it to cover their escape.

"Damn it, why is it no matter where we fucking go, we always end up pissing everybody off!!" Gabriel roared over the gunshots of his twin custom Beretta 92Fs, spraying bullets at the pub entrance to kill two of their aggressors.

"You've been with us for how long Gabriel, and you're only wondering about that now!?" Virgil answered as he scored a headshot with his Luger, causing his target to crash through one of the windows with a very sizeable hole through the forehead. Compared to his partner, Virgil seemed to actually be enjoying the gunfight. "Because we're special. _Very_ special. That's why!"

"Then I wouldn't mind being ordinary!" Gabriel replied. Right after he said that, a grenade suddenly appeared flying out of another window. Reacting quickly, Gabriel ran and performed a soccer kick that sent the grenade back into the building, where it exploded and took several others as well as a chunk of the building with it, with Gabriel hoping the thrower was among them.

While the two of them continued shooting, Ryoko, who was clutching onto her leather jacket that she had managed to swipe back before running out of the pub, May and Austin all dashed toward their parked jeep, avoiding bullets as best as they could. Mentally berating herself for not having the foresight to take her assault rifle with her, Ryoko decided the best she could do to make up for it was to get the escape vehicle up and running. With that thought in mind, she lunged herself into the driver's side of the jeap, in the same manner that she would to get into the Strike Noir's cockpit.

"Keys!" she called out to Austin, who in turn tossed her the keys as he and May jumped into the jeep themselves.

Wasting no time Ryoko stuck the key into the ignition and turned it, but all that action accomplished was a hard grinding sounding come from the engine. She did it again and again, but each time it only created the same sound. "No, no, no, fucking no!" she roared, smashing her fist into the dash, which actually caused it to cave down a little. A sudden burst of machinegun fire toward her direction made her and the rest of the occupants duck down into the jeep. "The engine's out! We're stuck!"

"Surprise surprise!" Gabriel growled as he and Virgil backed to the jeep while keeping their guns blazing. "This all wouldn't be happening if you hadn't wailed on the bastard you know! Crazy bitch!"

"You actually prefer me losing!?" Ryoko yelled at the boy, fairly incredulous.

"If it meant _not_ getting shot at afterward, hell yes!" Gabriel yelled back, ducking just as another bullet rebounded off the side of the jeep. "But no, you had to show off, had to make everyone see you knew kung fu and that bullshit, get them riled up over losing their money! Fucking brilliant on your part!"

"Children, children." Virgil interrupted before the argument could go further. As if to further his point, he fired another single shot that tore through his target's heart and then coming out the other side, again making a large hole as it went. "Please wait until all the bad guys are dead or dying. Then you can bicker and argue to your hearts' content."

Getting the message, Ryoko bit back her words with great reluctance, even though she had no idea how they were going to get out of this one. They were outnumbered and outgunned by a great margin, and although Virgil and Gabriel were demonstrating great skill with their weapons, they only had so much ammo to use. Once more, Ryoko felt angered at how useless she was in this situation, all because she didn't bring a weapon of her own, not that one more gun would make much of a difference.

The coordinator snapped out of her thoughts when she picked up the sound of a motor speeding towards them. When Ryoko looked behind her, she was surprised to see a rusty old tow truck drive up at high speed and quickly stop only a short distance from their position. And she was even more surprised when the driver side door opened to reveal the old man they met in the pub earlier.

"If you want to survive, then get in here!" the old man called out to the five in a gruff and hurried tone. Survival instinct prevailing over any confusion present, all five of the _Odyssey_ crew immediately ran out of the jeep and dashed into the tow truck, with Ryoko and May climbing into the cab while Virgil, Gabriel and Austin jumping onto the bed, with the latter two still firing at their attackers.

Apparently not wanting the party to escape, the attackers became much more daring, now running out in droves toward the tow truck with their own guns blazing. The old man sighed at that. "Hey kid." He motioned toward Ryoko, who was sitting at the passenger side while May was between her and the old man. "Open the glove box and hand me what's inside."

Ryoko hurriedly complied, opening the glove box and withdrew what she initially thought was a bottle of vodka, but then the fumes hit her nose and she immediately recognized it as a Molotov cocktail. She quickly handed it to the old man, who then produced a cigarette lighter and lit the piece of cloth at the top. Then with a massive swing, he chucked the bottle straight into the crowd, lighting several of the attackers on fire while causing the rest to scatter. Not waiting for them to regroup, the old man floored the gas and in only a matter of moments, the Devil's Pub and its denizens were far behind them.

Finally getting the opportunity to relax a little, Ryoko used the time to slip her jacket back over herself, and then look at the old man. "Thanks for the save." she said, her breathing starting to slow from the adrenaline rush. "But why did you pick us up? You just met us."

The old man laughed with thunder at that question. "That's not something you should be asking your savior kid, but I'll answer the question anyway: I saved you and your friends because you never answered my job proposal."

"Sorry about that. And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the rescue myself, but before I can say yes or no, you have to tell me the details. If it turns out to you want us to put together some long lost prototype that requires high end parts and labor, then there wouldn't be much I could do, would there?" May explained, knowing that latter part was a lie, as the young mechanic prided herself in being able to work on any kind of machinery no matter how simple or complex it would be. But there was no way the old man would have known that.

"Point taken, Miss…" the old man said, stopping short with a frown. "Now that I think about it, I never got your names."

"I'm May Kauwin, and this is Ryoko Nagato." May explained. "The white haired kid is Gabriel Zola, the bald guy with the muscles is Austin Baytes, and the one with long blonde hair and the big gun is Virgil Reneghan."

For some reason that neither Ryoko nor May could think of, the old man's head seemed to snap at the mention of Virgil's name, as if the name itself bore some recognition. But before either the coordinator or the mechanic could ask what that was about, the old man's expression turned back to gruff looking and he answered back. "Name's Matthias Pryde. I'm the local junker around these parts. You can call me 'Matt' if you want, most people prefer it."

"A pleasure to meet you _Jii-san_." Ryoko said, preferring to use the Japanese honorific for old man than calling him by name; it was just her way. "Now, what exactly is this job you want us to do?"

Something of an odd smile formed from Pryde's lips. "Rather than explain, how about I show you?"

* * *

**Pryde's Junkyard - western edge of Brisbane, Queensland**

"It's a junkyard." Ryoko heard Gabriel mutter for what seemed like the fourteenth time since they had arrived at their destination. "The old man took us to a junkyard of all places."

"Well he did say he was the local junker, so of course he'd work in a junkyard." Ryoko replied out of annoyance, making sure to drive to point home once and for all.

After what had been about a half hour's worth of driving, Pryde had taken the group to what looked like the very western edge of the city, where his junkyard was located.And now he was leading the group through the area to whatever destination he wanted them to be. As she was walking, Ryoko naturally couldn't help but gaze around at the various objects that surrounded her: everything from rusted metal plates to the remains of vehicles and mobile suits littered the area, all collected and piled on top of the other to form metal mountains of scrap. Ryoko couldn't help but wonder if any of these things had seen and gone through the Bloody Valentines. _Some of this stuff is probably left over from the Reconstruction War too… _

Glancing around at her comrades, she noticed that Austin and May were highly alert, and Virgil, while looking otherwise pleasant as usual, still had his hand close to his gun as if ready to shoot Pryde in the back the moment he tried to turn around. Gabriel was the same, only he didn't bother hiding it behind a velvety smooth smile. Ryoko inwardly groaned at them; if the old man wanted them to die, then he wouldn't have bothered to come and save them. But then a voice in the back of Ryoko's head reminded her that this stranger knew she was a coordinator, and just as well the crew of the _Odyssey_ had many enemies lurking around the corners of the Earth, so it was best not to take any risky chances. But regardless of the logic, that explanation didn't settle with Ryoko, who felt her gut tighten in response.

"Just over this way." Pryde spoke up again in that gruff, rock solid tone of his. If he had already noticed that this group was quite ready to kill him and run on a second's notice, then he was ignoring it.

Up ahead was a rundown looking building, not too different from the repair shop that Ryoko had worked in with her grandfather. It was definitely large enough to hold two or three mobile suits and all the equipment necessary for maintaining them. _A good place for an ambush too._ Ryoko noted, knowing the others were thinking that as well.

Just as Pryde came up to the door, where he produced a set of keys to undo the lock, and without any words he inserted one and twisted. With a rusty groan, the door swung open, to which Pryde reached in and hit a switch that turned all the lights on before entering. Sensing that it was safe, the rest followed him, their eyes immediately catching what was in the center of the building.

To the casual observer, the mobile suit that was sitting there in the open matched the standard dog-like profile of a BuCUE. However, upon closer inspection, there were many notable differences that separated it from that mobile suit. The first was a totally redesigned head, which was now more angular and more beast like in appearance, with a narrowed mono-eye, a large horn-like structure over its head, and two smaller fins that jutted on either side along with the standard twin beam saber module mounted in the 'mouth' area. The second was a frame that was slightly larger and bulkier than the average BuCUE, making this suit more durable overall. The third and possibly most notable, was that the fact this model had a large set of thrusters, with twin thermonuclear jet thrusters mounted on each wing and a single thruster over the 'tail end'.

Other than these details, this suit lacked the standard BuCUE back turret weapon for some reason, and had been painted in a desert brown color scheme with red highlights on the wing tips. Painted over the 'shoulder' of the front left leg was a sigil depicting a yellow shield with a red '13', which was painted as if it had been written in blood, at the center with a raised black scythe placed behind it.

"_Mein Gott_." May muttered in astonishment, looking from the supped up BuCUE to Pryde. "I've never seen a BuCUE like this before… What kind is it?"

"TMF/A-803 LaGOWE." Ryoko spoke up for Pryde, to which the old man casted an acknowledging glance. "A high end commander grade mobile suit used during the Wars, supposedly one of the most advanced ground types ZAFT had ever made in good quantities. I saw one in Stirling Valley once; they're supposed to be very rare."

She looked over to Pryde. "That said, how did you get one of these?"

"A long time ago, well before the world went to hell like it is now." Pryde said.

"You got this from Carpentaria, didn't you? A little memento left over from the First Bloody Valentine War."

All eyes immediately shifted to Virgil, who was leaning against the wall with his hands crossed. His smirk was present, only this time it was meant to show he caught onto something that his apparent host hadn't been letting on. Ignoring the glances of his comrades, he looked over to Pryde. "Oops, cat's out of the bag now, isn't it Commander Matthias Pryde, late of ZAFT's Terrestrial Forces?"

"ZAFT…?" Austin uttered outloud, as the group then looked back to Pryde to see how he would reply to this accusation.

To his credit, Pryde only wore a minor trace of shock on his face, which he managed to hide away quickly as he acknowledged Virgil. "In today's world, that name shouldn't carry any weight. How did you figure it out so easily?"

"There were several clues." Virgil said, coming off the wall and going about as if he were a detective that had just cracked a major case. "First, I have a keen memory when it comes to notable mobile suit pilots and commanders from the First Bloody Valentine, which you were part of. You started out under Andrew Waltfeld's command in Africa before gaining your own command, the Pryde Team, in upper Eurasia and then transferring to Carpentaria to help fend off the Alliance's invasion there, a la Operation 8.8. While many may not remember the name Matthias Pryde, it rang bells when I heard it myself. The fact you're the right age for someone that served in the Wars also helped in the recognition.

"Then you have Cujo over here." Virgil gestured at the LaGOWE. "Aside from the fact LaGOWEs were only issued to ace pilots and Special Forces teams during either of the Wars, which is why they're few and far between these days, I recognized your choice colors and insignia. Back to your war record, you were dubbed the 'Bloody Thirteen' during your tenure in Africa, specifically after you and the Desert Tiger wiped out all of Eurasia's tank corps in that continent; the Eurasians practically put out a bounty on any BuCUEs painted brown with red highlights sporting a stylized '13' as its ace mark after that defeat."

Virgil raised his index finger up, to show that he was nearing the clincher. "Now, those points just confirmed to me your identity. What got me suspicious to begin with however, was when you recognized Ryoko as a coordinator. Coordinators in general aren't that terribly difficult to identify, but only if one knows what he or she is looking for. Which brought me to that shocking realization: either you encountered coordinators before, or _you are one yourself._"

That last part hit with the effect of one of the _Odyssey_'s "Gottfried" cannon shots, as the whole group came to realize just who it was they were in the presence of. The largest reaction came from Gabriel, as his face twisted in disgust at the idea of having shared company with another coordinator all this time, while Ryoko, May and Austin looked at Pryde with even more astonishment than they had initially with the LaGOWE.

Pryde himself, rolling his eyes at all this, simply nodded. "That is, of course, all true. I at least _was_ that Matthias Pryde, I did survive those horrid Wars, and I am a coordinator just like Miss Nagato here. So what of it?"

And on that last part, Gabriel reached to draw his guns, but Virgil quickly stepped in front of the intended line of fire and gestured him to stand down. "Oh we have no problems with who you are…"

"Like hell we don't!" Gabriel snapped from behind, only to be ignored.

"…it's just a habit of ours to want to know. Not only do we have to know the details of the job that we are being offered, but as Marauders, we need to know our client's true identity and background. Helps when asking the age old question." Virgil's eyes narrowed into Pryde's, as if hinting. "'Can this man be trusted?'"

Pryde allowed himself to give off a smirk of his own, although it was quite smaller than Virgil's. "You have keen instincts for a natural."

"Comes from dealing with too many people like you." Virgil replied with a snicker.

"I'm sure it does." Pryde said, smirk fading to seriousness. "As I told you back at the Pub, I've been planning out some customizations to my mobile suit; I have all the appropriate equipment and resources for the job, but in order to get it done quickly, I need hired help. It's a large workload, but I promise you that should you accept, the payment will be worth it."

"And what will the payment be?" May asked, doing her best to hide the fact that she was now extremely interested in this job.

"Gold like I showed you before." Pryde said. "I had some pocket change left over from my time in Banadiya, when I was serving under the Tiger. I'm not exactly sure how much value that mineral holds these days, but I believe it's still very high in demand."

"And the time frame you want this job to be completed by?" Ryoko asked.

"Three days at the least." Pryde answered.

"That's fine. We're only going to be here for five days anyway." Virgil said, cracking his neck. "Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I wouldn't mind seeing the Thirteen back in action. Count me in."

"Same here." May answered.

Austin looked at his boss dumbfounded. "But we have our own mobile suits to worry about…"

"Not _we_ Austin. _You_." May said, smiling fiendishly like a shark a potential meal.

"But…" Austin tried to object.

"Relax, it's no big deal. The only thing you have to worry about is the Striker for Kurtz's Windam. The rest of the group are practically up and running already, which conveniently leaves you enough time to get all the dents and burns out of the _Odyssey_'s hull. After all, we can't leave the continent with our ship looking all beat up, can we?" May explained, speaking with mock child-like pleasantness as she did.

Austin groaned and shook his head in dismay at the idea of having to take on all of May's work so that she could go on a side job. The only thing that kept him from refusing the tasks given was the wrath it would incur; he had seen firsthand what May was capable of doing to people that refused her, even those that were literally many times her size and ­

packed the strength to match. Though he wouldn't admit it openly, Austin feared May for it, and so wisely kept his mouth shut despite the anguish.

Ryoko smiled at the display and then turned back to Pryde. "I'll take the job as well. I have a lot of experience with ZAFT built mobile suits, especially the quadruped kinds."

Which left only one more in the room, to which Pryde looked over to. It was pretty obvious that the boy had a disliking towards him and his type of person, and would also have probably fit in with Blue Cosmos back in the day, but the old combat veteran decided to try anyway. "That leaves you boy. Are you in or not?"

The aforementioned boy seemed to leer back at Pryde at first, but after a moment he nodded anyway. "Fine, I'll be a team player. But if you even think about cheating me or my friends, I'll personally put a bullet into your 'highly evolved' brainpan. Understand?"

"Fair enough." Pryde said, stepping back so that he faced everyone. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you follow me to my office, I'll show you what exactly needs to be done…"

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

"I don't see a problem with it." Lee said to both Lyn and the video image of Virgil that was projected on his desk. "If anything it'll keep your group out of trouble, though I'm not sure how long the ship will last without May's presence."

"The job's only three days at the least Ian. The _Odyssey_ has dealt with a lot worse than that." Virgil said from the other end.

"But I still don't like this." Lyn spoke up, concern evident in her voice. She was standing right beside Lee so that she could also talk to Virgil through the vidscreen. "How do you know you can trust the word of this Matthias Pryde? For all we know he could be working for Dan or someone else on our hit list, and this could be a setup to catch our own pilots out in the open."

"I doubt that. Dan's not that creative, and the geezer's living on the ass end of the city, which wouldn't be a likely place for any of us to hang around, circumstances aside." Virgil explained. "Speaking of, how was Patience's reaction to that?"

Lee shrugged. "She didn't seem to care, considering that it happened during the eruption of _another_ gang war." Despite that explanation, Lee still showed some concern of his own on his face, although it was for a different reason. He made sure to look Virgil square in the eye before he asked his next question. "Do you think he recognized _you_ Virgil?"

The Verde Buster pilot's expression turned serious as he considered that part, knowing full well what Lee meant. But then after that moment had past, he closed his eyes and raised his hands as if he were undecided. "Possibly. May said he reacted strangely when she told him my name, and he's been giving me the cold shoulder ever since. But I really don't care; if the good Commander wants to take me on, I'll match his LaGOWE with my Verde Buster."

"Please don't say that so casually." Lyn replied to that.

"Ohhh?" Virgil responded, smirk growing. "You're actually worried about me? That's very sweet of you Lyn, and just when I thought you were an unfeeling…"

"Don't flatter yourself Virgil." Lyn looked aside with a staunch, uncaring look. "I'm more afraid of the reputation we'd get if our mobile suit commander loses to an old man in a rusty old clunker of a mobile suit."

"Ouch. Point taken." Virgil shot back, grin still present despite that explanation.

"Regardless." Lee said, leaning forward onto his desk with his hands closed together. "I'm going to rely on you to keep an eye out on things over there. Not just on Pryde either, I want you to keep all three of those kids in check, especially Gabriel."

"Will do Ian. See you in the world." Virgil waved off, before closing the video screen.

Now that it was over, Ian Lee took his hands off the table and placed them behind his head so that he could recline a little on his chair. He looked Lyn with a small, amused grin. "Can you believe it? It hasn't even been a month, and we've ran into _two_ coordinators on this trip, one being a war vet. I heard the chances of finding pirate treasure in the middle of the Pacific were greater than finding any war veterans from the ZAFT side that remained on Earth."

Lyn remained silent for a minute as she composed her next question, only showing what she thought of all this with a small frown. "Captain, with your permission, I'd like to look into this matter myself."

"Hm?" Lee looked up with mild confusion, especially at the seriousness in Lyn's voice. Although she was too young to serve in OMNI, despite the fact she wore the uniform, Lyn had a gift at gathering and analyzing information that would have made her a great intelligence officer back in the day. In truth, Lee himself was unsure of her past before she became the XO of a Marauder battleship, he more than once had come to rely on her to dig vital information that would otherwise be missed. And as a plus, Lyn also held the gut instincts that came would have developed with a job in the intel biz, the kind that told one that there was something going on in the background, which was at times a more reliable asset than written or physical data.

Not that Lee had doubts about what Lyn was feeling about this, but he waved her off all the same. "I'm afraid I can't let you go like that Lyn. You and May are practically the only ones that keep the ship running on schedule; I can live without one of you at a time, but certainly not both. Besides that, where would you even begin? You have no background information on this man beyond his war record and reputation, you don't know his prior contacts or if he even has any in Brisbane, and on top of all that he hasn't done anything suspicious enough to warrant such attention."

"But that still doesn't mean everything is right with this, sir." Lyn replied, doing her best to sound assertive, which she always found difficult when talking to the Captain. "Records claim that Matthias Pryde was listed as MIA after Operation 8.8 and that he did not reappear again even after Break the World occurred and the Second Bloody Valentine War was declared. For all we know he could have been _anywhere_ on Earth between then and now."

"What's your point Lynsie?" Lee asked, sensing that this was going to turn into a heated exchange if he didn't do something quick.

"My point is a former ZAFT ace just pops up out of nowhere so that he can get his mobile suit up and running again, conveniently when an Earth Alliance built Marauder battleship pulls in to be resupplied just after it made life hell for people from mainland Asia to Carpentaria? Surely you're not going to just wave that off." Lyn replied sharply and to the point.

Despite her convincing argument, the Captain stood his ground, so to speak. "Not that I doubt your instincts Lynsie, but I don't think Pryde is interested or even knows about the _Odyssey_ coming here. Even if he was, he wouldn't be stupid enough to try and take us on alone, assuming he does know this ship's reputation of course. That and he's too isolated to be in contact with anyone from China."

"Still sir…" Lyn tried to argue again.

_"I'm sorry, but no."_ Lee said in the hardened vocal tone he used when he was truly serious about a decision, the one that told people not to press it any further. He didn't like going this far with anyone on his crew, especially Lyn or anyone else that was very close to him, but there were times when it was necessary and this was one of them. "In less than ninety hours we are going out to sea; for that to become reality, I'm going to need you at my side to keep everything going and on schedule. The more we stay here in Brisbane, the closer our enemies come to catching up with us, all so that they can payback whatever 'wrong' we've done to them with interest. None of us want to be in that position, am I right Lyn?"

The _Odyssey_'s XO grit her teeth for a second to hold back her initial reply, and then responded. "Yes sir. I apologize for getting out of hand."

And then, seeing that he had gotten his word across, Lee's expression softened, or at least as much as it was when normal. "No need Lyn. I know you're just looking out for all of us, and that's one of the big reasons why I took you on as my exec to begin with. But for now I want you to focus more on this ship getting off this continent. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can Captain." Lyn acknowledged.

"Good." Lee replied. "Then meet me on the hangar deck in one hour; the first of the supplies will be arriving at that time, and I'm going to need your help getting them moved to where they're supposed to go."

"I'll be there." Lyn said, although Lee could tell that the whole thing was still nagging at her. "Is that all?"

"Yes it. You may go." Lee said. He watched as the young woman turned around and exited his office without any more words between them. Just as much as he didn't like putting his foot down with her, he also didn't like it when he had to send the XO away without amending the rift between them first.

Lee had never liked the sort of commander that gave orders without any regard to what direct subordinates would think on the matter. While it was essential to the ship and chain of command that orders were followed, the captain preferred that those under him followed them because they understood or at least knew there was a method to their leader's madness, not simply because Lee was the captain and they were the crew. He had practiced that method of command since his days in the Alliance, and now it was even more necessary since the _Odyssey_ wasn't a military ship; therefore, its crew, including the ones that were formerly soldiers themselves, was not bound to any military regulations, protocols or laws beyond whatever rules Lee himself had placed.

But what was done was done, and Lee simply made a mental note to repay his XO for her loyalty and devotion; that is of course after the wasteland that was continent of Australia and the former Oceanic Union was long behind them. And as for the whole thing with Matthias Pryde, Lee decided all he could do there was trust in Virgil and the others' own foresight to see if any surprises were to come.

* * *

**Pryde's Junkyard  
May 8th, CE 101**

The next three days came and went quickly. While the _Odyssey_ continued to be resupplied and fitted for its long journey, the three mobile suit pilots and one chief mechanic concentrated their time and effort on modifying the vintage ZAFT mobile suit that they had been tasked with. Everyone had pitched in, working long hours with only few breaks in between, but none of the hired workers complained about that. To say the least they had each earned their weight in gold.

By now the modifications to the LaGOWE were almost complete, and although on the outside not much had changed it was almost completely different from the suit that Ryoko and her comrades had seen when they had first walked into the hangar. The thrusters mounted on the wings had all been vigorously upgraded with enlarged fuel cells and wiring, as had the tail thruster, and a booster unit had been placed within the LaGOWE to enhance its speed further. Of course, the leg mounted treads had also been reinforced so that the additional stress from the thrusters wouldn't rip them off when it was in tank mode. For weapons, a pair of beam cannons had also been placed on the upper calves of the back legs, ones that could swivel on a pivot one hundred eighty degrees, giving the LaGOWE both front and back protection. But the most striking change was the addition of a long-range missile launcher turret being placed on the back of the mobile suit, with both barrels large enough to house a cruise missile each.

That last addition to the LaGOWE had been a puzzling one to the workers, especially since Pryde didn't explain why he had chosen that for the back unit over the mobile suit's original twin beam cannon turret. However, since they weren't getting paid to ask questions, they all decided to drop the matter.

Presently, Ryoko was the only one in the hangar at this time; the rest of her compatriots had gone back into town to do whatever they wanted in the hour they had for a break. She would have joined them, but the night at the Devil's Pub had tainted what little of an image the town had in her eyes, and she wanted as little to do with it as she could now. So instead, she focused on working overtime in the LaGOWE's open cockpit, working out its operating system and electronics, just as she did periodically with her own Strike Noir. Accompanying her, as always, was the voice of Lacus Clyne playing over the mobile suit's audio system, this time being one of her original pre-War classics "Eternal Wind".

She was so concentrated on her work and the song however, that her senses, which were usually sharpened to the point that not even a fly buzzing around some distance away from her would have escaped her notice, failed to pick up that another person had walked up to the open cockpit. At least, until that person spoke.

"You know…" Pryde said, his deep, aged voice making Ryoko snap up from the monitor. "I haven't heard her voice in over fifteen years. It really brings a lot of nostalgia to this old man."

"She's quite something isn't she?" Ryoko said, sighing a little. "I'd give anything to have heard her live, back before all the wars and disasters that turned this planet into what it is now."

"Eh, I was never really into pop music, but my kids loved her, which was enough for me to become a fan." Pryde said.

"You had a family?" Ryoko looked at him with peculiar interest.

The larger, older man closed his eyes, as if disgusted with himself for letting that slip. However, he still answered her question. "Well before you were crawling."

Ryoko hesitated before she asked the next question. "What happened to them?"

Pryde answered that one by shrugging. "How much longer before you get the LaGOWE's OS is readjusted to control the additional thrust?"

"Actually, I finished that about an hour ago. I'm just making some finishing touches." Ryoko explained.

"Then you don't really need to be here. I don't mind if you take a break like your friends." Pryde pointed out.

"I'd rather be in here than out there." Ryoko replied as he went back to work. "I know it sounds weird, but I like being in the cockpit more than anywhere else. It's the only place where I feel truly feel safe from the rest of the world, so don't think I'm doing this just to get in my overtime."

"Heh." Pryde let out with a huff, crossing his arms. "If that's the case, you and I have more in common than being coordinators kid. I like cockpits too."

That made Ryoko smile brightly. _This man… he's a lot like_ Ojii-sama. _Hard-ass personality and all. _

Seeing that the work was progressing, Pryde turned and started to walk away without any more words. However, there was one question that had been bothering Ryoko for a while, and so she spoke up once more to stop him. "_Jii-san_…"

Pryde turned to look back at the much younger coordinator, his gaze hard but still showing he was willing to answer whatever was on her mind. Even so, Ryoko could feel herself swallow before she asked her question. "Why did you stay here, even after…?"

It was a simple question, yet it drew a large pause between them all the same. Ryoko could tell from Pryde's eyes and the way his breathing slowed that it wasn't a good topic of conversation for him, and Ryoko opened her mouth to tell him he didn't need to answer. But answer he did, before any of her own words could be uttered.

"I didn't _choose_ to be here; I was left behind. There was no waiting around after the order was received; we were either on those shuttles ready to fly home or we were not. All you can do if you were the latter is make your way to whatever civilization you could find and make a new home for yourself, because we all knew no one would be coming back for us." Pryde explained, his eyes trailing down at the floor. "The Exodus… It really changed everything."

"Yeah." Ryoko said, biting her lip unconsciously. She and possibly every human being that still called the Earth home knew of that event, and its aftereffects.

In the year Eighty Three of the Cosmic Era, the Earth Alliance, having long suffered the two wars that had devastated the planet as well as the fall of Junius Seven, had finally given into its wounds and collapsed, with all of its member countries separating themselves from each other as much as they could. Larger nations, namley the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations, were able to survive due to their large powerbases initially, but the smaller nations were not so lucky. One by one, nations across the Earth fragmented and broke down into themselves in different ways: their own minute economies dying out and forcing the populations into poverty, their powerless governments removed through coup de tats or revolutions, their military forces abandoning their collective duty and either participating in those aforementioned coup de tats, or striking out for themselves or just all of the above. It was a global degradation the likes of which had never been seen before.

For the next three years, PLANT and the few nations remaining that possessed any global power and influence banded together to rebuild civilization practically from scratch, through various acts of humanitarian aid, reinforcing governments and even full on military deployments, all to keep the damage from spreading as much as possible. Unfortunately, the anarchy, much like wildfire, spread at such a rate that whatever was done could only slow it down, not stop it entirely. It was obvious, from the highest ranking politician or general to the lowest worker, the collective system that had held humanity in organization and harmony for entire ages was dying out, and that there was no foreseeable way of stopping its metaphorical rapture.

Knowing that the destruction of global order was imminent, the PLANT's Supreme Council hosted a secret meeting at Aprilius One to discuss how they would cope with the practical coming of Armageddon. Then with a motion that would set the course of all humanity from that point onward, natural and coordinator alike, the members decided upon the unthinkable: PLANT would abandon Earth to its fate.

On January 3, CE 86, an order was sent straight from Aprilius One to ZAFT's planetside military detachments, commanding all ZAFT forces to gather whatever resources they could transport and return to space by a set date, and that whatever could not be transported was to immediately be destroyed or abandoned. Following this, a televised broadcast that reached all sides of the Earth, announcing that the PLANTs would withdraw all government and humanitarian aid from the besieged planet as well as sever all forms of communication, and that transportation to space would be offered to any coordinator citizens that didn't wish to be left behind. The Earth nations attempted to retaliate against the PLANTs for such a decision, but without the power of a globalized military like OMNI Enforcer, they were in no position to stop the impending desertion.

And so the entirety of ZAFT and approximately ninety percent of the coordinator population on Earth boarded whatever transports were available and flew into the sky, forever leaving behind the planet that had been humanity's birthplace. And when the last transport had left the atmosphere, ZAFT unleashed an orbital bombardment of missiles and beams that leveled every mass driver and spaceport upon the Earth's surface, effectively burning bridges so that no Earth dweller could follow them to space. Thus, Earth was forsaken, and its inhabitance dubbed the whole event the Exodus, which was Greek for "departure", after the Biblical chapter in which the nation of Israel left their Egyptian oppressors behind to seek their promised land.

But it did not end there, as the Exodus would soon prove to be the final nail in Earth's coffin. Without the PLANTs, the degradation increased to a breaking point that would leave the Earth in a continual desolate state for years to come, and to cause further devastation, the loss of coordinator driven business venues and industries across the globe through the mass departure made it so that it would be ages before a economic or industrial recovery anywhere on the planet would be possible. It was, of course, all topped off with the leftover weapons and technology that ZAFT did not take with them falling into the hands of renegades and undesirables, spreading the chaos even further. In the end, even the Atlantic and Eurasia weren't able to sustain themselves and once and for all collapsed with their governments fragmenting and their cities and industries breaking down upon themselves until there was nothing left but ruins and survivors.

Fifteen years later, the Earth was still where it was after being left behind: bleak, desolate, chaotic, impoverished and without hope. As for the PLANTs, nobody knew what became of them. It had become something of an agnostic subject since the Exodus, with some believing that the coordinators were still there, preparing for a new invasion that would break the remains of Earth's civilizations under their yoke, while others believed that the PLANTs had relocated out of the Earthsphere and possibly the Sol System, seeking out a new dwelling place in the galaxy while the Earth was left to rot like an unburied corpse. Either way, nobody knew in the end.

On a personal level, Ryoko had found the whole thing ironic. She recalled how factions such as Blue Cosmos had professed the extermination of all coordinators from the planet so that it could become a 'blue and pure world'. Now practically none of her kind were left, but the Earth was far from being blue or pure. Oh if the likes of Murata Azrael and Lord Djibril were still alive to see it…

"I can see that wasn't all on your mind." Pryde observed, breaking Ryoko out of her thoughts once more.

"Sorry." Ryoko apologized. "Just can't help but thinking how hard it's been for you; you went from two wars to being forced into living with the same people you fought against on a broken planet."

Pryde shrugged again. "It's not so bad. I actually don't mind this life, it's certainly much more peaceful than when I was a soldier. If there's anything I hate about it, it's the damn loneliness and isolation."

"You sound like some monk stuck on a mountain." Ryoko chuckled lightly. "As bad as Brisbane is, it does have people. Surely you've made some friends living here."

"Not really, I'm not the most sociable person these days." Pryde said, frowning once more. "It's not that I haven't tried, it's just that all of my friends are either dead or in space; I'm literally the only one left and I'm different from everyone else here. How can you connect with people knowing that?"

"I know the feeling." Ryoko replied bitterly. "Aside from my grandfather, I was never able to reach out to anyone myself growing up."

"But you have a new home now." Pryde said knowingly.

Now it was Ryoko's turn to shrug. "Who knows how long that will last."

"Don't think like that." Pryde stated, purposely interrupting Ryoko's train of thought. "If there's one thing I learned during my time, it's that you take what is given to you and value it, even if you don't know how long you'll have it. In fact, that should be the biggest reason to cherish what you have, and that includes the likes of a home, family and friends."

"I understand what you're saying _Jii-san_, but I'm still not sure." Ryoko admonished, feeling a little winded. "The _Odyssey_… it seems like a good place, and Captain Lee and almost everyone else there have treated me better than the people back where I grew up. But I've only joined recently, and I don't know if they're willing to put up with me for long; for all I know, the moment we reach North America they'll sell me to a research lab somewhere."

"Yes, that can be quite a dilemma, not knowing who to trust." Pryde concluded. "But the ones that you were with, they seem like good people, so I don't think you'll have problems relying on them. Even the boy doesn't seem like the type you're afraid of, despite that temper of his."

"What about Virgil?" Ryoko asked.

"What do you mean?" Pryde looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

Ryoko allowed herself to smile a little bit. "You don't have to hide it _Jii-san_. From the time you heard his name you've been eyeing Virgil like he was your eternal adversary. Obviously you know something about him that I don't."

The war veteran didn't reply for a moment. _So, she doesn't know. Maybe she's better off that way…_ "A long time ago, a man with that name killed many people; several of them were my friends."

Ryoko's smile disappeared at that, not knowing how she should take that. "And you think Virgil's that man…?"

Pryde replied with a 'meh'. "Who knows. As I said it was a long time ago, and I'm sure that man would be dead by now. But even so, just because I don't like him doesn't mean you shouldn't either; remember that he was the one that stood up for you at the Devil's Pub."

"I had almost forgotten that." Ryoko admitted reluctantly. Even though the events of that night had long come to pass, and that she had been so caught up in her own survival that she hadn't had time to stop and consider what Virgil had done for her, she still felt guilty for not thinking about it.

It was at that point that Pryde raised his left arm and took a look at his watch. "Almost time..." he muttered to himself, then looking back at Ryoko. "There should be another delivery coming this hour. When you hear the truck drive up, come get me; it's something I have to take care of myself."

"What's the delivery? More parts?" Ryoko asked a little confused. Most of the modifications to the LaGOWE had been complete by this point, so there was no need for additional hardware.

"No, munitions." Pryde answered. "That missile launcher on the back is a prototype from the Wars, left over when ZAFT abandoned Carpentaria. It's designed to launch long-range missiles with the LaGOWE acting as a mobile platform, so I put through a special order."

"Can't imagine what you'd use them for _Jii-san_. There's nothing really worth blowing up out here." Ryoko thought aloud. "And you do realize that once those missiles are spent, all you're going to have are the leg mounted beam cannons and the beam saber to fight with; not exactly a good thing for drawn out battles."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Pryde said without pause.

That seemed enough of an explanation for Ryoko. "Oh well, it's your suit."

"Yes it is. I'll be in my office." Pryde said. He was about to leave, but for reasons even he did not know, he stopped himself and looked back at Ryoko with something on his own mind. "I have a question for you now Miss Nagato."

He waited for Ryoko to look back up before he continued. "You told me your grandfather was killed by a Marauder, and that you killed his murderer in turn, correct?"

Naturally Ryoko frowned at having to remember the event of her grandfather's death. "Yes, that's true."

"When you killed him… How did you feel?" Pryde asked. Even his hardened voice failed to hide the interest in Ryoko's answer.

Ryoko looked at him as if he had just asked for her measurements with that same voice. "What do you mean?"

"It's exactly as it sounds, how did you feel afterward knowing that you just killed the man that took away the most precious thing you had?" Pryde continued. "Was it a vindicating experience for you?"

The younger coordinator wasn't sure if she liked what the elder one was implying, but she thought about it and answered anyway. "I'm not sure. I know for that after I killed him I felt I did the universe a favor by ridding away that scumbag and that my grandfather could rest in peace knowing his murderer was dead. But now, I don't know how I should think about it; whether he lived or not, I lost my grandfather all the same, and nothing will change that."

"But even so, you still felt you made everything right, even if it was just for a second." Pryde said.

Ryoko looked down as she thought. "Yes, I suppose so."

"Thinking hypothetically for a moment." the old man looked at her with all the seriousness he could muster. "What if that man somehow managed to cheat the reaper and survive, but you don't find out about it until much later, and through that time span everyone else around you have forgotten his misdeeds and generally left him be, even when you can remember clearly his shooting your grandfather right in front of you. Would you be able to let him go and move on like everyone else had done, or would you, even after the passage of time, cast the much deserved vengeance?"

This time, Ryoko didn't answer his question. Instead, she felt as if something cold had seized her gut, like an unseen hand that she knew was there but couldn't pinpoint. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to her, and her expression showed it. "_Jii-san_, you're starting to scare me…"

"Indeed." Pryde raised his hands up to calm her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask something like that. Just forget I mentioned it."

With no more words, the old veteran finally took his leave and the hangar was once again empty, with no sounds forthcoming but the sound of typing and the majestic singing voice of Lacus Clyne. But even though her boss was gone, Ryoko wasn't able to get back to her work entirely until a good minute had passed by, the words of Matthias Pryde still in her head.

* * *

**Queen Street Market – Brisbane, Queensland**

"For the last time…" Gabriel said in annoyance at the vender, who was holding a neck chain made out of large metal circles in front of the pilot like a piece of jewelry. "I don't care if it's made out of 'authentic ZAFT grenade pins', I'm not interested in 'war souvenirs'. Do you have any nine mike-mikes or what?"

Very reluctantly, the old vender lowered the "chain" and shook her head. "I sold my last box about three hours sir, but I'm sure I could…"

"…have told me that at the beginning. Damn it!" Gabriel cut her off and then turned away before she could finish her sentence, no longer interested in what other merchandise the lady was trying to sell him. Feeling like this had been going on for hours, he pushed his way through a crowd of people and began to move through another crowd to where he had last seen Virgil and May.

The area that he was in now, the one that both his compatriots had both insisted on going before the _Odyssey_ departed, was Queen Street, and it was effectively one of the most active areas in the city, but still far enough from the Junius crater to still be considered safe. Besides being the main street for the whole city, it also contained one of the oldest and most modern shopping centers on the entire Australian continent, but like everything else in Brisbane it was devastated like the rest of the city from Break the World. The resulting shockwave had destroyed most of the real estate and ripped the street itself up to the point that a bicycle couldn't be ridden safely on it, but for some reason the area was still maintained as a shopping center and trading bizarre.

The major selling point of this area, if one could pardon the expression, was that practically anything was being sold here, from food to clothing to weapons to human lives and virtues. Even amidst the desolation, the citizens of Brisbane were quite able to find and dig up anything worth any value and sell it for a good price, which combined with the string of pubs that lined the street, made it was quite the 'tourist attraction' for foreign travelers. Especially Marauders.

In a way Gabriel supposed it was the only decent part of the city that was worth looking around in, since aside from a choice pub or two there really wasn't anything. But even so, he still didn't like it here. There were too many people, too many crowds and too many reasons for him to constantly be on guard. He had no doubts that there were people watching him, looking to see if he had anything valuable, and that if they were given the opportunity would either try and steal something from him or just attack him straight out. He also had no doubts that if such a thing did happen, he couldn't rely on any of the other people, especially not the local police force, to come to his aid. In a manner of speaking Gabriel always felt like he was being sized up when he came to places like this and he hated the feeling. Virgil and May, however, didn't seem to care about the potential dangers of Queen Street and although Gabriel could have remained back at the junkyard, he'd rather stay with them instead being the only natural in the same building as two coordinators.

After some walking and shoving, Gabriel finally found where he had left Virgil. The older pilot was currently looking over a line of women slaves, all chained together to keep from escaping. Or at least he was pretending to, while an especially fat and eager slaver stood by wearing a sickening grin of anticipation.

"...I don't like it." Virgil said, waving his hand to the woman that he had been eyeing, who despite her calm exterior was quite nervous. "Too thin, not fed well at all. For the kind of work I need done, the woman needs to be at her best or she may end up falling on the job. Know what I mean?"

"Not to worry my good friend." the fat man spoke heartily. "I assure you this one is quite a bundle of energy, and will serve whatever need you have for her. Tested her myself, so I know this for fact."

Virgil gave him a skeptical look. "I thought you said she was a virgin."

The slaver quickly raised her hand. "She is. I think you and I can agree there are more ways to serve a man than _that_…" he laughed.

Virgil also laughed, but only Gabriel could tell it was forced. He also had noticed that Virgil was twitching his fingers at Gabriel's direction, giving him an unspoken signal, which Gabriel blinked once at to show he got the message.

Virgil looked back at the slave girl, looking over her face which seemed to tremble under his gaze. "Judging from the face, I would say this girl is Chinese, from the Zhejiang province specifically, and that from the rough yet delicate hands that she is the daughter of a rice farmer."

"Yes, yes, that is right!" the slaver proclaimed. "You truly have a keen eye for women."

"Not really, I just spent a lot of time in China recently." Virgil shrugged. "So what's her story? Farm couldn't support the family income, so dad sells her instead of the rice?"

"Hah, much more tragic. Parents and brothers were killed off by Marauders while she and her sisters were forced to watch. Then they handed her off to me, with her virtue intact, since that increases the value. As for her sisters, they kept them." the slaver explained.

Virgil shook his head with a 'tsk tsk' motion. "What a truly sad world we live in."

"Sad yes, but all good for business." the slaver joked.

"Naturally." Virgil said, his grin growing bigger.With that word serving as the signal, Gabriel watched from the corner of his eye as May casually walked right behind the slaver, reached up and snagged the man's money pouch from his pocket. The motion didn't go unnoticed however, and the man turned around in astonishment.

"Hey, give that-GAH!" was all he had managed to exclaim before Gabriel came out and delivered a jump kick to the back of the man's head. As the slaver fell to the ground unconscious, the three _Odyssey_ crew members took the opportunity to run back into the crowd. A few people called out for the police during that time, but all three of them knew the cries would fall on deaf ears, and that they had effectively gotten away.

Minutes later, the three of them ducked into a nearby alleyway, laughing at the catch. "_Zu gut_, _zu gut_!" May laughed as she withdrew a load of money from the slaver's pouch. "Why do _dummkopfs_ like that always have their money on person? Don't they know there are thieves lurking around? _Denken sie sind unantastbar_?"

"Why bother to ask? They're easy enough catches." Gabriel laughed as well. "And what the hell was with that bullshit Virgil? First that girl was clearly Indonesian, and second there is no farmland in Zhejiang any more, not after a Junius fragment landed in the middle of Hangzhou and fucked up the whole province."

"I know that and you know that, but clearly he didn't, and that made it all the more fun." Virgil said with a smile, looking at May. "Now you made sure to slip one of those girls the skeleton key, right?"

"Of course I did!" May proclaimed. "If everything went to plan, then they should be freeing themselves while the _fetter dummkopf_ is napping."

"That's assuming the girl you handed the key to wasn't selfish and decided to just free herself and leave the rest." Gabriel thought out loud.

"Well, we can't account for everything." Virgil shrugged. "And the money?"

"Oh…" May waved a fat wad of cash up. "I'd say well worth the trouble."

"Very nice." Virgil eyed the cash, mentally sneering at the knowledge that it was slave money. He may have been a renegade, but he had never been a proponent for slavery, as he thought it was one of the worst things humans could do to each other. And that said a lot coming from a man that made his living from one battlefield to another.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he looked down at his watch. "We'll have to head back soon, before the old man and Ryoko either kill each other or plot to take over the world."

"And we all know how coordinators get off on their evil plots." Gabriel sneered instantly.

Virgil's grin disappeared from his face at that. "I was joking Gabriel."

"I wasn't, and I wouldn't put it past them." Gabriel replied.

Frowning, Virgil looked over to his other companion. "May, give us a minute here."

The chief mechanic nodded hesitantly and walked out of the alleyway toward another shop, or the remains of a building that had been made into a shop, not interested in the least in the exchange that would follow. When she was a fair distance away, Virgil looked back at Gabriel. "You know Gabriel, I like to think I and everyone else on the _Odyssey_ have been patient with your grudge against coordinators, especially when taking your past into account…"

"Get to your point Virgil, we don't have all day." Gabriel grunted. This was one conversation he did not want to have with his comrade.

"Okay, you want my point?" Virgil peered at Gabriel with all the seriousness he could muster in himself. "My point is this has got to stop. I don't care what you think of coordinators in general, but Ryoko is your wingman, and she deserves as much consideration and trust as you would give to me."

"Trust her?" Gabriel's sneer grew. "After the shit she pulled at Stirling, leading us on to think that she was some poor natural girl living in a ghetto who _happened_ to like mobile suits and _conveniently_ had piloting experience? Yeah, I trusted her up to when I saw her slaughter three mobile suits like they were nothing and then come after me!"

"Need I remind you that _you_ were the one who attacked first?" Virgil shot back with equal force. "But that's beside the point. The three of us are supposed to be a team, but we haven't been acting like it at all. As far as Ryoko is concerned, neither of us can be trusted, and frankly I can't blame her; the way you carry on, it sounds like you'd sooner shove a beam saber through her suit's back rather than keep it covered."

"And why wouldn't she trust you? You've been pampering her ass ever since she came aboard the _Odyssey_." Gabriel said dryly.

Virgil folded his arms at that statement. "Because I'm associated with you. And she doesn't know if I'd stop you in your attempt or sit back and watch. Besides, how much did you trust me during our first meeting in the Amazon?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Alright fine, you got me there. But it's still _her_ problem if she can't decide whether her teammates are out to get her or not. Not that I'm for her being on my team, much less my ship."

"Except this being a team effort anyway, it's as much _our_ problem as it is _hers_. Damn it Gabriel, you've seen what happens to teams that don't function well together, and you're still going to repeat those mistakes?" Virgil exclaimed.

"That wouldn't be an issue if she _wasn't_ on our team." Gabriel retaliated. "Just what was wrong with the two of us Virgil? In what fight did we suck so badly that we needed a third wheel? Because I can't remember a damn time or place where we couldn't handle everything ourselves."

"We've only been fighting small fry up to now." Virgil explained, closing his eyes as he continued. "But the path we're on is one that only gets harder and more challenging as we progress further. Guys like Dan Noachim and those thugs at Stirling Valley are mere opening acts compared to what we'll likely face down the line. Thus, we need all the additional help we can get."

"And what makes you think Ryoko will give us a better chance at making the finish?" Gabriel asked. This time it was a real question, and not a flippant response.

Seeing this, Virgil's grin made a full recovery. "We've both seen how capable coordinators are in battle, and we've both seen her in particular action. I think her performance to date speaks for itself."

"Feh." Gabriel grunted in response.

"Look." Virgil said. "You've got your reasons for this grudge, and even though I disagree with most of them, I respect them all the same. That said, I'm not asking you to lighten up on coordinators or invite Ryoko to your next birthday party. What I am asking you to do is cut her some slack and give her some reason to rely on you out there, before _you_ end up in a situation where you'll be relying on _her_ to pull your ass out of the fire."

Gabriel didn't look the least amused by that aspect. "Satan and his minions will be having snowball fights well before that happens, but fine, I'll back off a little if it will keep you happy."

That seemed to satisfy Virgil, but it didn't stop him from asking one more thing. "And despite your misgivings, I can still rely on you not to kill her at the first opportunity?"

The younger pilot's face lit up with anger for a brief moment, as if Virgil had just insulted him to the worst degree. "I'll let that one slide since you already know the answer Virgil. _You damned better not ask me that again_."

"Just double checking." Virgil grinned once more, completely unfazed by the anger. "Now let's get out of here before someone decides we're easy pickings."

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

"Scatter!" Thomas Kurtz roared out in command, making his Jet Windam ascend to avoid the incoming bursts of bullet fire. Fortunately, his wingmen Kenneth and Brendan Hughes had gotten the order before he pulled off the stunt, and they quickly broke out of formation before any harm could come to their black mobile suits.

Ahead of them was a mixed force of DINNs and more advanced but much rarer AMA-953 BABIs, all flying at them at combat speed. Angling the Earth Alliance manufactured MS out to match vectors, Kurtz then brought up his suit's M9049L beam rifle and fired off three shots, forcing some of his adversaries to break off. As he did, one of the DINNs took a shot at Kurtz with its 76mm autocannon, but hit nothing but air as the Jet Windam veered to the right and flew towards its quarry at a faster speed. The DINN tried to pull away, but it made no avail, and with a snapshot, Kurtz planted a single shot into the DINN's cockpit block, rendering it it into instant scrap.

A trio of BABIs then tried to catch him from behind with their MGX-2237 "Ardor" multi-phase beam cannons, firing off triple streams of colored energy at Kurtz to silence him, but the pilot managed to deftly evade both shots with small bursts of thrust. One burst however came close to hitting his suit's Jet Striker, making Kurtz grimace.

_Thank the fucking Lord that Kauwin wasn't here to see that._ Kurtz thought in annoyance. The BABI, while not nearly as fast nor as nimble as the DINN, was still tougher to kill thanks to heavier armor and it packed a nasty punch with its equally heavy weapons, especially that "Ardor"; Thomas couldn't recall if any other production type mobile suit ever mounted chest mounted multi-phase cannons like that, as they notoriously took a lot of power to use. He keyed in his radio to his wingman. "Brendan, pick those flies off my back!"

A response came in the form of twin shells fired from the younger Hughes brother's Mk39 low recoil cannon, incinerating two of the BABIs upon contact. The third one managed to evade the shell meant for it, but at that point Kurtz had twisted his Jet Windam around and drew one of his suit's hip mounted beam sabers, to which he used to slash through the cone headed mobile suits unprotected back. Instead of exploding, the remains of the BABI fell out of the sky, but even as he watched this, Kurtz's aggression still remained unchecked. _No matter how realistic they are, they're still fakes in the end…_ he thought bitterly.

To the crew of the _Odyssey_, Thomas Kurtz was a man with a massive chip on his shoulder. Even amongst a group of rogues, very few bothered to associate themselves with Kurtz for his constant bad attitude and cynicism, and Kurtz himself didn't care for any comradeery outside of his own team; as far as he was concerned, they were his co-workers and nothing more.

Of course, there were reasons for his bitterness. Kurtz had been a Marauder all his life as were the other two of his team. He had set out immediately to become a mobile suit pilot when he had come of age, running away from home, joining a Marauder group, where he received his mobile suit and combat training. At the time the group he was with were concentrating on survival instead of fighting, simply moving through left over military installations and towns and cities to seek out scraps, food, water, basically anything that could be used for human survival, thus Kurtz mostly spent his days either drinking or polishing the armor of his Strike Dagger. He recalled more than once during that period that he wished for something to break monotony; however, he had never thought that his wish would ever be granted.

Then before he knew it, Kurtz ended up landing in the jungles of South America fighting another Marauder group in a private war of sorts. While nothing compared to the wars of the past, it was still a bloody conflict and a period of his lifetime that Kurtz would never forget. He never shared the details of his experiences during that time, and with good reason, as the whole thing had transformed him from a young, bright faced soldier who lived for the service of his country into the cold, bitter man he was today. The only thing he did share was that he and his men were some of the lucky few to survive it.

Not long later it ended as suddenly as it started, with both groups practically annihalating each other. The survivors managed to move on, but for Kurtz, the nightmares of what he saw still remained, and no matter how much he tried to seek out professional help, usually by alcohol but sometimes through whatever medical help was available, they never left his mind. Only a mere three months after the event, he left that group of Marauders and sought out a new living for himself, even going so far as to leave the western hemisphere behind, at least for a time. The Hughes brothers, his comrades from that time, had been loyal enough to him to join along in Kurtz's self exile, although truth be told Kurtz figured they wouldn't have lasted much longer there anyway.

As far as his time on the _Odyssey_ went, Kurtz had joined the ship barely three years ago, after having jumped around from group to group, job to job. And while he was apathetic toward her crew, he had to admit he and his team had done pretty well under the direction and pay of Ian Lee; on top of the set of customized black GAT-04 Windams they were provided, which being former Phantom Pain units possessed a superior power and performance compared to most of the suits Kurtz and the Hughes had used before joining, they also had a pretty high pay grade for renegades and the battleship itself made a nice home to return to after a day's work. And for the fact Lee hadn't kicked him off his ship like so many other of his previous bosses over Kurtz's personality issues had compelled him to remain with the _Odyssey_ longer than he had expected.

A violent shaking accompanied by loud bangs shook Kurtz out of his thoughts, as one of the DINNs had nailed him from the side with its AA shotgun. Fortunately Kurtz wasn't deep enough in his thoughts that he had missed the DINN make a pass at him, and so had raised his Windam's shield to absorb the scattershot. His eyes fixating into a fierce glare at his latest predator about to be turned prey, he snap turned the Windam towards the DINN and fired his beam rifle off once more. The DINN however managed to evade his shots, and responded by releasing its payload of missiles from its chest mounted tubes. Before Kurtz realized what he was doing, he unleashed the fury of his four "Todesschreckens" 12.5mm automatic CIWS into the missiles, creating a vivid fireworks show of explosions.

Unfortunately for Kurtz however, two missile managed to avoid his barrage and it was only the timely raising of Kurtz's shield arm that prevented his mobile suit from being obliterated. The resulting explosions destroyed the shield entirely and also shook up the left arm somewhat, but otherwise the Jet Windam was still in the fight. Even so, Kurtz mentally berated himself for not being able to take out those missiles, which brought him to the other side of his bitterness.

For all the skill and experience that Thomas Kurtz had gained through his career as a mobile suit pilot, both as a soldier and a Marauder, he knew he was effectively cannon fodder. He was an ace with plenty of kills under his belt, but he was no way in the league of the legendary pilots from the Bloody Valentine Wars that could turn entire battles around just by being present. That said, if Kurtz ever went up against a pilot of such caliber, he knew he was dead; he could make it harder for the other pilot to kill him, but he would still die at the end. Kurtz despised such pilots and the terrible skill and power that they possessed, and it was for that reason he didn't socialize with the _Odyssey_'s crew as much as he could get away with.

While he and his team might have been considered exceptional pilots, the others that flew under the _Odyssey_'s flag were nothing short of phenomenal or beyond human. Kurtz had been witness to many of the battles that Virgil Reneghan and Gabriel Zola had participated in, seeing firsthand the effect they caused regularly. Even among the ranks of Gundam pilots, both of them were carnage given physical form, and whether they fought independently or together, they were quite capable of destroying anything and everything they came across. And as for that Nagato chick, Kurtz had only seen her in action once, and had been too preoccupied to watch her take down that asshole Noachim, but for the fact she was able to do it meant the young coordinator was an equal among Virgil and Gabriel's numbers, and for that Kurtz detested her just as much.

Sometimes Kurtz wondered why he continued to serve alongside such people, much more without feeling the urge to kill them in their sleep. The best he could summarize was that Lee paid him and his team enough that he would put up with their presence; after all, money did make the world go round and was usually the boundary between a trusted ally or a mortal enemy. That said, he also wondered that if or when Kurtz went to work for another Marauder group, would he end up fighting any of those three in the near future?

Again the DINN leveled its shotgun and the autocannon with it, and without his shield, Kurtz was forced to evade the oncoming fire with by climbing. Now feeling very annoyed, Kurtz decided to make a show of this DINNand so closed for melee combat.

"You're MINE insect!" he screamed at it, storing the beam rifle and drawing both of his beam sabers. Since the DINN didn't have a melee weapon of its own, it naturally flew back while firing repeat shots from its autocannon. But Kurtz dodged the fire; not as smoothly as any of the Gundam pilots would have been able to, he disgustedly admitted, but he still managed to keep his mobile suit intact. And when he was practically on top of the DINN, he made a series of slashes and cuts that dissected the ZAFT built mobile suit, with the pieces of its limbs, wings and body literally raining down in the sky.

He turned to see if there was anything else remaining, and he felt simultaneously pleasure and displeasure at the sight of one remaining BABI. Instead of turning to flee like any real mobile suit pilot would do in its situation though, the BABI transformed into its fighter mode and charged at Kurtz's Windam, firing off its various weapons at once. A collection of beams, bullets and missiles streaked in Kurtz's direction, forcing him to fly to the side to evade the assault entirely. The Hughes brothers both flew out to give their commander fire support, but the BABI banked around either of their beams and shells, its flight path unaffected.

Finally feeling his battle rage reach a breaking point, Kurtz roared as he put his Windam into a match flight vector, turning the battle into an aerial game of chicken. Whatever the BABI dished out, he either dodged or swatted away with his beam sabers, but he did not change his course. That is until the very last second.

_YOU'RE DEAD!_ his mind cried out. Just as it seemed like the BABI was about to ram through his suit with its cone head, Kurtz jinked his Windam up and over the purple mobile suit. For a split second, he felt time slow down as he slashed and hacked both of his blades into the BABI's back, unleashing the anger and frustration he felt towards the world and the life that had been granted to him into the single mobile suit. When he was done, the BABI spun violently downward with smoke trailing behind it, before finally exploding into an expanding mass of metal and flame.

A moment later, the Windam's monitor went blank and reverted back to the view of the _Odyssey_'s interior, with Kurtz's eyes gazing out on the back of the Blu Duel. He sighed, feeling satisfaction with himself from a good battle performance, not even bothered by the knowledge that it had just been a simulation. He might never be a super ace, but Kurtz was experienced enough to know that experienced gained from simulations and training battles would help him and his team in real battles, even if by a little bit.

But the moment didn't last as the sound of Kurtz's radio buzzing made him curse outloud in annoyance. Said annoyance multiplied three fold when he saw the call wasn't from either Kenneth or Brendan, but from the _Odyssey_'s bridge. He keyed it in, not bothering to see who was calling him before answering.

"What the hell do you want _now_ Walker!!" Kurtz snarled into the radio, not relishing the idea of talking to the _Odyssey_'s battle controller over anything.

However, the person on the other end wasn't who he was expecting, evidenced by the image of a capped, uniformed man with a grey beard, orange tinted glasses and a hardened voice that even made Kurtz sweat. "Thomas, while I understand that you just came out of a simulation, I expect that you will _never_ use that tone with me again."

Kurtz backed down and allowed his face to clear into something that resembled calmness, but still hinted at something lurking underneath. "Sorry about that Captain. What happened to the succubus?"

"Assuming that you're referring to Simone, she's off duty at this time. We are after all, for all intended purposes, in dock, so there's no need for CIC to be active now." Lee answered.

"Good point." Kurtz replied, not quite sure whether he preferred to talk to Lee instead. "What is it you want to talk to me about?"

Lee's expression somehow turned serious, or even moreso than it was initially. "I just received a call from Patience. Apparently one of her mobile suit patrol teams ran into another group outside the city, and judging from their mobile suits, it's a good guess they're our friends from the orient."

"Goddamn it." Kurtz growled, almost feeling his hair bristle. It made sense that some of the people they crossed in China wouldn't forget the _Odyssey_ or the things that its crew had costed them, but Kurtz was hoping that they could have avoided any further quarrel with them. "Do you want us to go after them?"

"No, but I want you and your team on standby in case anything happens." Lee said. "Hopefully when they decide that they'll go through Brisbane to attack us, we'll be on the pacific heading to America. I doubt even they would follow us that far."

"But that still leaves a two day window for them to come after us Captain." Kurtz replied.

"I know, which is why your team is on lookout." Lee reminded.

"Wouldn't it be better to also have Virgil's team on standby?" Kurtz asked.

Lee shook his head. "That won't be necessary. The fact that the Asians haven't attacked us yet means they're still organizing a force, which means the best we'll be facing in the next two days will be a single team or two made up of pilots that didn't have the patience to wait for a larger force. Your team alone would be overkill to them."

Whether Lee meant that as a compliment, fact or both, Kurtz wasn't sure. He also couldn't help but feel he was being dejected to a menial task while Lee's "all stars" were left to continue their break, the said task apparently beneath them. "Alright sir, we'll be ready if anything comes."

"I know you will. Bridge out." Lee replied before signing off.

Even with Lee gone, Kurtz still felt loathing within his heart, but he chose to put it aside to put it aside for now. He had a job, and he wasn't getting paid to bitch about his work. And it was with this mindset that he keyed his radio to his team's frequency, preparing himself to relay the orders to the Hughes brothers.

* * *

**Pryde's Junkyard Manager's Office**

The evening was setting in, Pryde knew. From the sole window in his office he could see the sun setting in the west, casting the sky in a combination of pinks, yellows and blues as it went down. In a way he could see the setting sun as an analogue of his own life, which was slowly waning away in the harsh but strangely tranquil setting that was Brisbane, Australia. Years ago Pryde would have felt despair at the feeling, but now he only felt indifference.

Turning away from the sun, he went back to his work. The desk in his office was a mess of papers and mechanical parts as it also doubled as a workbench, but aside from that it also held a computer. At the moment, the computer displayed a graph map that extended from the western end of Australia, which was Pryde's current home to the eastern side of the North American continent. Along this map was a series of lines, as well as a calculator program and an open notepad program that was scrolling with a series of math equations and side notes. Pryde felt amused that workings which would arguably impress men like Albert Einstein was scrolled out before him on a single screen; wasn't it amazing what free time and technology could do together?

Flexing his fingers, Pryde set back out to his typing, continuing to enter in math formulas into the calculator, altering lines on the map and jot down the results on the notepad. To any natural Pryde's speed and effort would have been straining, but Pryde was a coordinator, and such things like mathematics and physics were akin to eating breakfast every morning for him. However, the computer he was using was built by naturals for natural uses, so Pryde had to pace himself so that he didn't make the computer crash, although even that did little to slow him down.

The only break in Pryde's tempo was when he looked over to a pair of photographs that were on the side of his desk. One was that of his younger self, dressed in a green ZAFT uniform and in a PLANT city, standing next to a beautiful blonde haired woman, and two toddlers standing between them, one having notable blonde hair and another having red; obviously his wife and children. The next one showed Pryde again, this time dressed in a green normal suit with several other kneeling pilots standing in front of a inactive BuCUE in a desert basin, with two notable figures right behind Pryde; one was a man with dark brown hair and a unique black and orange tiger striped variation to the ZAFT normal suit while the other was a woman that wore a white and dark grey suit of her own. Both pictures were enough to make Pryde's expression soften, even for the briefest of moments, before he finally turned back to the monitor and continued his calculations.

At one point however, he looked toward the door that exited the office and lead to the hangar interior. _She's still working even after all this time…_ he thought, his superior hearing picking traces of Lacus Clyne playing out over a speaker system.

Even he had to admit that he had been impressed by this group. Despite his initial misgivings, they had proven knowledgeable on both mobile suits and mechanics, and had proven it by almost completely transforming the LaGOWE in a mere three days, all without any complaints or dejections to the work Pryde had added on. Even the silver haired kid didn't put up much of a fuss, beyond the occasional anti-coordinator comment anyway. They had definitely earned their payment, which Pryde would make sure they received before they left.

In a way though, Pryde felt couldn't help but feel depressed at the knowledge that once the job was over he would likely never see them again. They were a close-knit group, each possessing a strong bond with the other despite any conflict that may be between them, and these days such people were rare to come by. It also reminded Pryde of Andrew Waltfeldt's command; the Desert Tiger had been well known to promote comradery within his ranks. Whereas most battlefield commanders either didn't care or disapproved of any excessive relations between soldiers, Waltfeldt made it so that you knew the names, birthdays, home PLANTs, and the loved ones back home of the people that you served with. Although it was hard to shake the loss if anyone died, it well worth it in the end as their memories lived on, and from a tactical standpoint it served to deepen the feeling of reliance and dependability between soldiers. Pryde had attempted to the best of his ability to reflect Waltfeldt's command style with his old team, and although he lacked the Tiger's charisma he liked to think he did a good job there.

That said, even though he had only known them for little more than a few days, he would miss this group, especially Ryoko who Pryde felt he had developed a rapport with. Pryde was half tempted to attempt to hire Ryoko for a permanent job, but he knew that no amount of gold or money could give her would sway her from the prospect of piloting mobile suits. The former ZAFT pilot had been like that too, a long time ago.

_Besides._ he thought, feeling a sour feeling well up in his gut and all the more bitter. _I doubt they would still like me if they realized the man I really am._

Compared to his other lines of thought, this one made him get up from his desk once more and walk over toward a small closet at the end of the officer. Pulling back the metal door, Pryde's eyes scanned the interior of the closet, specifically at the black ZAFT officer's uniform it contained within its hold. The uniform was obviously quite old, but still in pristine condition despite its years. Pryde's eyes narrowed over it, and he both felt relief and disgust at the sight of it, as well as what he was planning to do with it.

_No, you've come too far to have a change of heart now!_ a voice in Pryde's head pleaded with desperation. Pryde felt himself frown at the voice.

Feeling he had stared at the uniform long enough, he closed the door and returned to his desk to continue working. The lines on the map were becoming clearer to him now, and with the shipment he had received from the afternoon, he knew that he was getting closer to his goal. All that remained was the finishing touches on the LaGOWE, and Pryde could complete the mission he had given himself all those years ago. And he knew how long it would take for his mobile suit to be finished.

_One more day._ he thought as he continued working._ It will all end in one more day…_

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Author's Note:** Ever since I started ODYSSEY, I've been getting many e-mails and reviews regarding the fate of ZAFT, Orb and various canon characters. Much to my amusement, Lowe Gear is a popular one. But now that I've revealed just what happened to ZAFT and most of the coordinator race in this chapter, I hope said readers are satisfied, and I thank them for their interest in the subject matter. As for Orb, I promise its own fate will be revealed after the conclusion of this arc, which will hopefully be the next chapter.

On the subject of characters from the TV series, manga series and SEED-MSV showing up in ODYSSEY, I can definitely assure people that several will appear over the course of the story. In fact, aside from Lee and references to Kira Yamato and company, one especially notable character has appeared within the story. Anyone care to guess who it is? I'll say this much, I gave a hint in the last chapter that I'm sure more than one SEED fan will recognize. Now that I think about that, the hint's more obvious than I would have wanted, but _c'est la vie_.

Keep those reviews and questions coming in.


	9. Phase 08: Talion

"_If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? If you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that."  
_- Shylock, Merchant of Venice Act III Scene I

**Phase 08: Talion**

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** - outskirts of Brisbane, Queensland  
May 6th, CE 101**

Lynsie Schneider couldn't help but smile a little as her eyes scanned the interior of the _Odyssey_'s hangar deck from the bottom level. _When the cat's away, the mice shall play…_

Compared to the usual constant and busy atmosphere that the hangar existed under May Kauwin's presence with, it was now very much deserted aside from a select few that preferred to remain and do their jobs. The reason for this was from Austin Baytes giving the entire mechanical crew the night off, which in turn, as Lyn suspected, was due to the anxiety and stress that added onto Austin's shoulders from four days of leading rebellious miscreants who threatened mutiny regularly. Only May could keep them under total control, and she did it through incurring fear and intimidation, two things that Austin was not very good at despite his hulking size.

In actuality, the _Odyssey_ itself had been like that a lot lately, with most of the crew choosing to enjoy the wild nightlife of Brisbane rather than remain on the ship. The bridge was almost empty now with only James Seddon, the sensor operator, and Simone Walker being on duty, and as far as Lyn could remember only three people were working in the engine room, none of the damage control crews had remained onboard since it was unlikely the ship would be going into battle, and even the majority of the cooking staff had somehow gotten off without Lyn's notice. The latter was perhaps the most annoying, as Lyn had been forced to eat an instant cup of ramen for dinner, which was far from ideal sustenance for her. All that taken in, she might have gone AWOL herself, had it been a different city from Brisbane, as well as the thought of dealing with Captain Lee's wrath upon her return.

Stifling the urge to cough just to see how much of an echo she could create in the clearing, Lynsie began walking down the row of mobile suits, moving past the Jet Windam triplets to the Blu Duel and then the Verde Buster. She stopped when she reached the specialized artillery mobile suit, which from where she was standing looked dormant, but after seeing the Gundam in battle so many times, she knew exactly just how powerful and deadly it could be when active. Just like how she knew its pilot held the same malice, only he chose to hide it behind a pleasant, smiling face most of the time.

At the moment only one mechanic was working on the Verde Buster, and said mechanic was bent over the mobile suit's right foot, with the man's entire upper torso buried within the innards of the foot and his legs bent forward so that he was kneeling in. When Lyn moved closer, she saw that it was Austin, and that from the almost silent cursing (Austin was a man that rarely lost his temper or resorted to dirty language) that the large man's bulk had gotten him stuck.

The XO chuckled at the mechanic's predicament. "That looks like a pretty awkward position Austin." she said. Austin was one of the few people she knew well enough that she used his first name.

"Lyn, is that you?" Austin called out from the mechanical confines of the foot. He sounded as though he were out of air. "If it is, grab onto my back and pull as hard as you can. I've been in this thing for god knows how long."

With as much strength and effort as she could muster, Lyn grabbed onto the much larger man's mechanic overalls and yanked. At first she didn't get anywhere, but after two tries, she managed to pull Austin out far enough that he could push from his end to free himself. Once Austin was free from the foot, he took a deep breath and wiped a sweaty hand across an equally sweaty bald scalp. "Lieutenant Schneider, you are officially my new goddess."

Lyn rolled her eyes at Austin, though this was more due to his using her old military rank rather than his overbearing gratitude. "You're welcome Austin. What were you doing in there? Sabotage?"

"Exactly. The next time Virgil takes makes a thruster jump with this suit, he's going to have a very rough landing." Austin played along with Lyn's joke. "I was just doing some routine maintenance. Mobile suit feat tend to wear down fast, even on suits that run on thrusters more than they walk or run, so I decided to take care of both of them now and get it over with. I'm going to do the Blu Duel's next."

"You took care of the Strike Noir and the Windams already?" Lyn asked.

Austin shook his head. "Don't need to, since they're flight capable and don't fight at ground level much. Now what are you doing down here?"

"Just wanted to see what this place was like when May isn't around." Lyn said, waving her hand around the open deck. "You'd almost think this place was a wartime museum."

"I _had_ to get rid of them somehow before they started tearing the ship apart in rebellion, and the only thing I could think of was shore leave. I doubt you or Captain Lee would tolerate that." Austin stated.

Lyn gave off a small 'heh'. "It's alright Austin. I think the Captain will let it slide this time since most of the repairs have been completed anyway, right?"

The large man allowed himself to make a proud smile. "Yes ma'am. The _Odyssey_ is all fixed up and ready to wreak havoc across the North American continent. And outside of routine maintenance and stuff, so are the mobile suits."

_And chances are we probably will end up doing that._ Lyn thought. "How much longer do you think May's going to be gone for? Virgil, Gabriel and Miss Nagato have already returned."

"She said she'd be back later. Old man Pryde wanted her to check over the LaGOWE one last time, so knowing the Chief we won't see her again until daybreak." Austin explained, cracking his knuckles absently.

Unknowingly, Lyn's face turned into a frown. "Funny that."

The mechanic looked down at Lyn questioningly at first, but after a moment realized the reason for the expression. "You don't trust him, do you?"

The XO fixed Austin a glance. "No more than I would trust any living creature I have no data or intel on besides a war record."

"Heh heh heh." Austin laughed a little. "If you're worried about the Chief being left alone with a complete stranger, then don't. I've seen what that girl can do to grown men, especially molesters, and that old man doesn't have a chance if he tries anything."

Even so, Lyn's frown did not disappear. "I'm not afraid of May's safety; I don't think anyone on this ship aside from Miss Nagato hasn't seen what she can do. No, what I'm afraid of is that I feel I'm missing something that I shouldn't be, but I can't pinpoint it. And if there's one thing I hate more than anything in the world…" her eyes narrowed into Austin's. "…and that includes Virgil grabbing my ass…" the larger man only coughed in response. "…it's not having all the facts."

The mechanic shrugged. "Well, I'm not an ex-intel officer, but to me the guy seemed okay. Besides, if he wanted to kill any of us, don't you think he would have tried to already?"

Something in Lyn bubbled at that question. "The best offensives are the ones that don't strike immediately, but at a time where the enemy let's its guard down. That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Commander Pryde was abiding his time until an opportunity came along, like say after his mobile suit was fixed up and the _Odyssey_ was still anchored."

"Be a bit of a suicide attack if he did try though. Besides the fact he'd be up against six mobile suits, all high end models, his LaGOWE isn't fixed for direct combat; it's armed with a few beam weapons and a cruise missile launcher…" Austin tried to explain.

And as if she had just heard a gunshot, Lyn looked up. "Austin, did you just say he equipped a LaGOWE mobile suit for cruise missile launch capacity?"

Austin stroked his bald head for a moment. "I didn't see it myself obviously, but the Chief told me about it. It's one of those twin barrel kinds, which are designed to strike installations rather than ships, especially ones equipped with CIWS, or mobile suits. Said he was pretty adamant about having the thing on…" it was then he noticed the spark in Lyn's eyes. "Is there something to that Lyn?"

"I'm not sure Austin." Lyn said, thinking. "But there's a pretty good chance…"

"Then you better look into it." Austin said immediately. "Before we end up facing another Carpentaria."

"Agreed." Lyn said. Not bothering to say anything more to Austin, she turned around and ran out of the hangar deck, heading for the _Odyssey_'s computer room.

The mechanic however, remained standing in the middle of the hangar, a long sigh escaping his lips. "And you're welcome."

* * *

**Pryde's Junkyard**

Inhaling and exhaling a long breath, May took a moment to wipe a greasy arm across her forehead. Usually when evening came in Australia, it became cooler, and so May had thought it would have been the ideal time to finish her work on the LaGOWE, but the hangar was so warm that she might as well had been working outside desert in the afternoon. But then May hadn't signed on to this job to work in a comfortable environment, so she chose to ignore the heat as best as she could and continue.

Glancing at her watch which she had tuned to Australian time, she saw that it was 1930 hours, which May felt herself frown at. "_Herr_ Pryde sure is taking his time getting out here." She muttered.

A little bothered but not distracted, she put her eyes back on the LaGOWE's front left leg assembly, which she was currently tuning up so it could handle the extra thrust from the rockets a bit more. Sure, the leg was probably reinforced enough, but in May's experience it was the little adjustments that made the largest differences, especially in emergency situations. That and she figured this LaGOWE was going to go through large amounts of wear and tear, and since Pryde didn't have a full mechanical crew working for him, May wanted to cut him some slack and make sure his mobile suit held up for some time even without.

In the midst of her work, she heard the door from the manager's office swing open and close with a rusty groan. The sound of footsteps tapping across the metal floor of the hangar told her that Matthias Pryde had finally decided to come out of his lair and rejoin the living. With that, a small smile formed on May's lips. "Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you got stuck at the toilet."

"Yes… I apologize for that. I had to make some final preparations of my own." The voice of Matthias Pryde explained from outside May's field of view. By now he had moved around the quadruped mobile suit and was directly behind May, although May didn't bother looking up as she was too involved with her work.

"'Final preparations'? What else is there? Unless you mean those boxes…" asked May through gritted teeth, which were caused by her tightening a bolt with her wrench while talking. She was too busy to think about it, but Pryde's voice didn't have that gruffness to it this time; instead, the older man spoke in a more even, more subdued tone of voice.

The boxes that she was referring to were two crates that had been put at the end of the hangar and off to the left side, only a few meters away from the LaGOWE's head. They had been delivered yesterday, and although their contents were meant for the advanced ground mobile suit, Pryde had not allowed anyone to so much as peak into them, even though it was obvious that they contained the cruise missiles that would go along with the new launcher. Now the job was pretty much done, but the missiles still remained in their crates for some reason.

"Nothing you need worry yourself over Miss Kauwin, it was only personal business." she heard Pryde answer once again. "Is the LaGOWE ready to mobilize?"

That made May perk her head up, but she still didn't turn to face Pryde. _'Mobilize'? Either the old man's back in the war or I'm not getting something I should be._ "Planning on an evening ride under the stars are we?"

"Something like that." was all the older man would say.

May still wasn't sure about what was going on, but she saw no reason not to answer him. "Then yes, the LaGOWE is ready to '_mobilisieren_'." she spoke the last word sarcastically. "I don't recommend pushing the beast too hard though. With the amount of thrust this baby puts out now, you could end up flying from here to Darwin in a matter of seconds."

"Very well then." Pryde once again said in that eerie tone of voice. "Then I have only one more job for you to do."

May was about to ask the old man what he meant by that, but the sound of a hammer cocking back on a pistol made her throat freeze along with the rest of her body. Confusion leaked into her like ice cold water running down a stream, to the point where she could feel her breath catch in her throat and a chill run through her entire body; it wasn't the first time someone had pointed a gun at her, but it was the first time she was taken by surprise like that. "Old man… What are you doing?"

"Do not worry, I have no wish to harm you. This is only a precautionary action. Now please, get up and turn around." Pryde ordered.

May did as she was told, millions of thoughts streaming through her head as she did. However, when she did actually turn around to face Pryde for the first time since he had entered, all of those thoughts ceased and May felt the wrench slip through her hand as she gasped aloud.

She might not have been around when the Wars had occurred, but there were only a select few who did not know what a ZAFT uniform looked like, and May instantly recognized the ZAFT Black uniform that Pryde was wearing. As well, compared to how he was when they had first met, Pryde looked more like a soldier than before; along with the uniform, his face had been clean shaven of its beard, his white hair had been trimmed evenly and tied into its usual ponytail, and his expression, while always hard, now had that militaristic gaze to it. He even had an officer's cap placed over his head, and May could guess that the gun he was pointing at her was a vintage Maius M67, the standard sidearm for ZAFT soldiers.

"_Mutter von Scheist_…" May exclaimed. If it had been anyone or anything else, the young mechanic could have sworn that she had just seen a ghost.

"The crane. Now." Pryde gestured with his handgun toward the side of the hangar, where the set of controls to the overhead crane assembly were located.

Seeing that there was no way she could overpower the much larger man, even if she could somehow get the gun out of his hand, and with Virgil, Gabriel and Ryoko all safely back on the _Odyssey_ there would be no rescue, May could only comply with whatever the captor told her. Usually when someone pointed a gun at her, she could always find a way to get around it, such as throwing the wrench she had in her hand at the gun and making the man either drop it or knock it in the air as it fired, or she would wait until the aggressor moved in to rape her, which happened more often than May would have liked, so that she could deliver a much deserved knee to the crotch. But for all of her cunningness, May could tell that this coordinator would not fall for any of it; whatever she could try, he would only react much faster.

And so she moved over to the crane controls and flipped the switch to activate the machine. Pryde moved close to make sure that she didn't try to bolt for it, but not close enough that he was in May's reach. Not that she could reach out faster than Pryde could pull the trigger. "Now, move the crane to those crates and use it to unload them. Put both of their contents into the LaGOWE's missile launcher."

May felt her lip twist into a sneer at the man's orders, and she fought the urge from telling him to go inseminate himself. She had been uncertain of what those crates had contained before, but now it seemed like her worst fears were being proven one after another. She could already imagine what she would be loading into the LaGOWE, but she didn't want to think about it.

After lifting the lid of one of the crates, she lowered the crane down and clamped it around the tip of the missile warhead. Slowly and delicately, she had the crane retract, bringing the missile out of its box. However, when she saw what exactly she was lifting, she snapped the crane to a halt, almost dropping the missile in the process.

"That's…" May gasped once more. Even her shock from seeing Pryde's new getup was nothing compared to the sheer terror she felt now.

"What are you doing? Lift it." Pryde ordered without pause.

"You idiot…" May seethed, right before she turned and looked at her aggressor with an expression that was half-pleading and half-'are you fucking insane?' written across it. "Do you realize what those _things_ are!? Or did you think that emblem on the side was a decoration!?"

"Your only concern should be living through this." Pryde stated, training his pistol at May's forehead. "Now, continue."

Mein Gott, _he's serious_. May thought as she turned back to the controls. Her hands, which she felt now were moving on their own accord as no right minded person like herself would ever do what was happening now, worked the controls so that the crane and its captive missile shifted over until it was positioned just in front of the right side launcher. With that done, she lowered the crane and drew it further in, so that the missile narrowly slid into the barrel. She was working much slower now, but she didn't want to take any chances; with this kind of missile, it would only take one screw up and then it was all over.

After she finished loading the first, she repeated the process with the second without any change in the process. When that missile was loaded neatly into its selected barrel, she placed both of her hands on either side of the controls and looked back into Pryde's eyes with a dangerous leer.

"There, it's finished." she said, almost spitting her words out. "I don't know what you're planning with those, but for your sake you better not be thinking about fighting the _Odyssey_. You'll be in for a rude awakening."

"Even though that ship is captained by Ian Lee of the Phantom Pain, a man most deserving of final judgment, it isn't my target." Pryde said.

"Then what is? What's on this continent that needs to be blown to dust like that" May inquired, a little confused. After a moment though, she shook her head. "Actually, no, don't tell me. It doesn't matter, because once my friends find me dead here, they're going to come after you, and Virgil especially has killed your kind before."

Pryde actually laughed at that. It was a kind of sinister, low tone barking laughter that made May flinch at its intensity. "And as much as I would like to kill _him_ too, and avenge all the souls that butcher took, I sincerely doubt he or anyone else will be able to stop me. ­

That said…" he withdrew his pistol and walked around May, moving toward his mobile suit. "I am not going to kill you."

The young girl continued her glare regardless, and deep inside himself, Pryde felt something crack. Despite circumstances, he had never wished to make an enemy out of this child, neither to show his darker side to her. But it was too late now, and he was already too far committed to let her be an obstacle. "For what it's worth, I wish you well Miss Kauwin."

"_Gehen bumsen sich, mörder_." May hissed with palpable anger, directed at both Pryde and whatever he was intending to do with his machine's payload.

Not bothering to say anything more after that, Pryde turned away fully and paced to the LaGOWE's cockpit hatch, quickly opening and slipping in. Quickly and through memory, Pryde then glided through the start-up sequence. The suit's green mono-eye flashed on only moments later, and the once dormant machine lifted itself off the ground like a beast awakening to hunt once again. Then without any care for the other occupant of the building, the LaGOWE took off into a dash, bursting out of the hangar doors and kicking up a cloud of dust as it ran.

The machine ran as it had during the First Bloody Valentine War, swiftly and without pause, all to perform its assignment with the greatest efficiency. But unlike the war, Matthias Pryde knew too well: after tonight, it would never return to its hangar to await another mission…

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_

"You have to admit, they're tenacious little fucks." Virgil said as he moved to lean against Lee's desk. Along with Lee, Ryoko and Gabriel, Virgil was looking at the screen toward the side of the captain's office that displayed a full map of Brisbane and the surrounding land. At the center of the screen was a blue arrow marking the current position of the _Odyssey_, and just west of her were several red dots that were grouped together. It didn't take much to figure out what those red dots represented. "I still wish you would have told me about this earlier Ian. We could have dealt with this before it escalated."

The _Odyssey_'s captain shrugged in response. "You were unavailable, but at this point it doesn't matter. Right now our East Asian friends are deciding whether they want to attack us now and risk having to also face Brisbane's denizens in the process or wait until we tried moving out of the city limits, where they can attack without a hitch."

"No offense Captain, but I seriously doubt any of those 'denizens' would stop killing each other long enough to help us. Assuming they wanted to in the first place." Gabriel exclaimed from where he was standing, which was against the opposite wall of the office.  
­  
Both Virgil and Lee nodded in agreement with Gabriel's statement. "True." Virgil said. "But there's no way for them to know that, and rather than risk finding out, they'll simply take their time and wait for an opportunity."

"Are there still enough crew members onboard to repel an attack? Better yet, how many know?" Ryoko asked. At the moment she was sitting back on Lee's couch, fairly relaxed. Having spent more than a week on the _Odyssey_ had made her more comfortable around the captain, although she didn't let her guard down too much; one could never tell what a man like Ian Lee would do next.

"Only the ones I need most on both questions, of which there are six. You three included." Lee admitted. "I'll have to tell Lyn as well or she'll get flustered for being left out of the loop."

"I hope so, because whenever she gets mad, she only takes it out on the rest of us." Gabriel complained.

Ryoko looked at him with an irritated corner glare. "Are you always this pessimistic or is it just something in the air?"

The white haired natural shot the glare right back, but didn't reply to the jab. As much as Gabriel would have loved to tell the coordinator to go do something that could only be described as extremely painful and pornographic, he remembered his chat with Virgil back at Queen Street and held his tongue. Thus he settled for the glare, muttering a 'Feh' and then turning away with his arms crossed.

As if to break the tense moment on cue, the face of Lynsie Schneider appeared on the terminal on Lee's desktop. The window indicated that she was in the _Odyssey_'s computer room, while the dire look on Lyn's face indicated that whatever she was about to say wasn't good news. "Captain sir, we've got a problem."

Lee quirked an eyebrow. Did Lyn somehow find out about the nasty group of East Asians several kilometers west of the _Odyssey_'s position before he could have told her? "Tell me Lynsie." He said regardless.

"Remember that ZAFT vet that Virgil and his group 'helped out' recently?"

That was enough to get the other three in the room quite interested, but Lee himself just let out a snort. "Lyn, didn't I tell you…"

"_Listen to me sir!_" Lyn barked hurriedly, silencing even her captain. Whatever it was, if it meant extremely uptight and professional Lynsie Schneider having to override her commander, then it was something very dire. "I just browsed through an information file from the old war archives. What I'm about to send you was originally classified in '71 by ZAFT's higher command, so don't be surprised if you or anyone else haven't heard about it."

A few keystrokes on Lyn's end later, and another window popped up on Lee's terminal, showing a screen of text and blueprints. By now the three Gundam pilots came around Lee's chair to look at the screen. And almost simultaneously, they all reacted in disbelief. "That's… impossible." Ryoko started first.

"Codenamed Project Shylock." Lyn explained, clearly wishing it really were impossible. "ZAFT's top secret nuclear weapons program. Or one of them anyway."

"That's the same launcher we installed on the LaGOWE!" Gabriel let out. "But how? There's no way something that size could launch a nuclear payload."

The XO shook her head. "You're thinking on the level of ICBMs, but Shylock operates much different. Instead of a true ICBM, ZAFT planned on using a pair of tactical ballistic missiles of Eurasian design, specifically captured SS-121 'Scorpios', to strike at intercontinental targets. Usually, missiles of that size couldn't hope at reaching anything beyond seven to eight hundred kilometers, but using a variant of the multi-stage rocket system, ZAFT physicists and engineers found a way to increase the striking range greatly."

"Not that we don't get any of this Lyn, but how exactly does that work? Scorpios don't follow a multi-stage system; they're just modern day V-2s or Scuds." Virgil inquired.

"I was just getting to that." Lyn snapped, signaling Virgil not to interrupt her at a time like this. "ZAFT came up with a system to circumvent this. Their idea was to use a BuCUE styled mobile suit as a moving launch platform, only firing its payload after reaching a target speed. In doing so, the mobile suit _itself_ serves as the first stage of the rocket, and with enough thrust and power, the strike range could be increased anywhere from fifteen to twenty thousand kilometers with just the 'Scorpios' alone."

"Son of a bitch…" Ryoko felt herself exclaim, her eyes narrowing in a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger. All of a sudden that conversation she had with Pryde, the one speaking of revenge and vindication, was all making sense.

Lee managed to step back in quickly, although inside he felt like a total idiot for not giving Lyn the go ahead to investigate Matthias Pryde. He made a mental note never to doubt her when she had a hunch again, although at the moment that wasn't good enough for him. Still, he couldn't let that show to her, if only because he was still the Captain of the ship and could not show he had made a mistake to any one of his crew. "Do we have any idea what ZAFT was planning to attack with these? Judging by the name, the whole thing is a vengeance tactic against naturals."

Lyn nodded hesitantly. "It is, for the Bloody Valentine Massacre." Nobody noticed it, but Virgil visibly cringed at that mentioning. "Someone in ZAFT thought it would be funny and ironic idea use nukes, Alliance ones no less, against naturals for their nuking of Junius 7. The original intended target was to be Washington D.C., but then the launching point was to be in occupied Spain, and I doubt Pryde could make that distance all the way from here."

"Doesn't stop him from trying." Gabriel growled in distaste, the sickening feeling that he and his comrades had just aided a potential mass murderer. The said feeling was especially bad for Gabriel, because he had just given a coordinator the tools to kill naturals with, on a scale that had not been seen in entire decades. "I should have known. I should have fucking known!"

"Calm down Gabriel. Now isn't the time…" Lee quickly ordered.

"No I can't fucking calm down Captain!" Gabriel snapped back. "I should have known what that geezer was thinking the moment Virgil pointed him out! We know that those whale-loving supermonkeys only get off on slaughtering naturals with colony drops and oversized lasers, but apparently this guy prefers good old nuclear fallout! I should have just slit his throat the moment he admitted he was one of _them_…!"

"Enough Gabriel, that isn't going to help the situation!" Virgil barked with surprising intensity. Inside, he cursed at the timing of this whole thing, especially when he had just gotten Gabriel to light up on Ryoko.

"He's right though." Ryoko spoke up. For her part, she didn't seem to be overflowing with anger like Gabriel was, but through her calm and shaken voice, one could tell there was something beneath the surface. "I know it's like shooting yourself in your own ass, if that's possible, but I actually agree with Gabriel. We should have figured it out the moment we saw that missile launcher, circumstances be damned." _And I should have figured it out the moment that bastard started talking about "long awaited vengeance". Damn it._

And again as if on cue to break the moment, another communication window opened up on Lee's terminal, this time displaying the image of May who was still in Pryde's garage. "Captain, it's an emergency! That old bastard has gone completely nuts and just took off with-!"

Before May could finish her sentence or Lee could respond to her, Ryoko was in front of the terminal. The mechanic nearly jumped in her place when she saw Ryoko's angered face, but Ryoko ignored it. "How long ago did Pryde take off and where was he heading?"

"Ah… No more than three minutes ago, and I think he was heading north or northwest…" May explained, having no idea why Ryoko was mad or why she was asking about Pryde before she explained.

_He's still setting up for the run. I can catch him._ Ryoko thought, turning toward Lee. "Captain…"

"You have permission to launch." Lee replied, already knowing what Ryoko was thinking. "I don't care how or what you will have to do, but stop him Ryoko."

"Uh, guys…? Did I miss something?" May said with clear confusion.

Virgil spoke up next, also knowing what Ryoko was going to ask. "Gabriel and I will stay on the ship. I don't think either of our machines could catch him in time."

"That said." Gabriel eyed Ryoko carefully. "Don't fuck this up."

Ryoko nodded in grim acknowledgement and took off out of the office like a lightning bolt, heading toward the hangar where the Strike Noir awaited.

"Hello? Is this thing on?" May tapped the screen twice.

* * *

**Australian Wilderness, approximately 200 kilometers north of Brisbane**

In spite of all the modifications that had been done to the LaGOWE, it had not taken long for Matthias Pryde to 'reacquaint' himself with his mobile suit. Sure, it was much faster and more responsive now, but he had no trouble moving it toward its first destination, the northern desert that was well beyond Brisbane's border. Not even the rough terrain was obstructive to the quadruped mobile suit.

Once he reached the destination point, he turned the LaGOWE toward the east and made sure to take a long look at the road ahead. It was the Australian continent in its purest form: flat terrain, as was the requirement for his mission, with no mountains or anything beyond rocks and a few forms of vegetation. The ocean was still a long distance away from his position as well, so even if he magnified the monitor he wouldn't have been able to see it. And of course, unlike Brisbane there were no people here; even the aborigines never settled here, as the lack of a water source and fertile soil made it impossible to create a community. But even so, Pryde took it all in, as it was the road that would lead to his destiny.

_Better get started._ And with that thought in mind, he pushed the thrust lever forward, flaring the wing and tail thrusters. Not even a second later the LaGOWE crouched down into its tank mode and sped forward at high speed. Pryde immediately felt the G-forces begin to build up on him, and he wasn't even going at full speed yet. He realized that was something he had never taken into account; his body might have been in shape, but it was still old and not as tolerant as it was back in the war. He gritted his teeth to hold back the pressure that was welling up. _If I blackout before I hit the launch point then this whole thing will be for nothing…_

Fortunately the shock he was enduring did not distract Pryde enough that he didn't notice the sound of his radar beeping a proximity alert. Looking over, he saw the signal representing a single mobile suit, one that was flying right on his tail and moving fast enough that it was actually gaining on him. What's more, his sensors were unable to identify it. Curious, Pryde had the LaGOWE's head swing to the right said, then snapping the mono-eye around until it was facing right behind the machine toward a growing black shape in the background. And when he magnified the image, Pryde almost felt his heart freeze in its place.

"Strike…?" he muttered outloud. Indeed, the black suit looked like a variant of the one he remembered the most, which was likely why his sensors were unable to ID it, but it was definitely a Strike Gundam.

A familiar voice soon boomed over the radio. "_Jii_-san, if you can hear this, change your frequency to 4483 mHz and respond."

Pryde did as he was told, although he did not miss the tinge of unevenness in Ryoko's voice. "I read you loud and clear Miss Nagato. I trust you know just what I'm planning to do out here?"

"Why are you doing this _Jii_-san?" Ryoko demanded to know. "Whatever it is you want, is it really worth using nuclear weapons over?"

"Yes, it is the only way. If I am to gain true peace in this lifetime, as a soldier and as a human being, then I must see this through." Pryde answered stoically.

"You're going to be killing god knows how many people!" Ryoko shouted.

The old man hesitated in his response, but only for a moment. When he finally replied, his voice showed nothing but indifference. "A large price to pay, but I am willing to carry that sin. Besides, nothing I will do would ever match the sins of the Earth Alliance."

Even though he couldn't see Ryoko's face, Pryde could almost see her shock and disbelief in his mind's eye. He also noticed that the Strike's speed had just increased. "I'm warning you _Jii_-san, don't make me kill you."

"You kill me?" Pryde's lips curled into a sneer of harsh determination, just as he began increasing his LaGOWE's speed as well. "You're welcome to try, child! Let's see if you can stop me before I bring about true justice."

* * *

It was only after Pryde responded to her that way that Ryoko fought back the hesitance she had toward shooting the LaGOWE. It was obvious that the old man wasn't going to back down from verbal action alone, especially when he increased his mobile suit's velocity, not caring that there was a former Earth Alliance high-performance mobile suit coming after him at a similar speed. And even now, it sickened Ryoko that she was one of the people responsible for refurbishing that same mobile suit in the first place, so that it could go and rain nuclear hellfire on some heavily populated area in North America.

"…_true justice."_ And that line brought to memory just how the Earth came into this condition in the first place, when it all started thirty years ago on fourteenth of February with similar words being used as the rallying cry; and now Pryde was going to repeat that atrocity. Ryoko felt her fists tighten around the control sticks of her Gundam. She knew what she had to do.

Increasing the speed of the Strike Noir even further to get a better targeting profile, and from there she dropped the targeting reticle upon the speeding LaGOWE. On her command, the two "Torrent" beam rifles her Gundam was carrying flew up and angled at her target, and no more than a short moment later, she had target lock. Her finger pulled down the trigger, sending double shots of neon green energy shooting at the brown and red ZAFT mobile suit.

Her first two shots struck short of the LaGOWE, but her follow up shots were enough that Pryde had to actually do some maneuvering in order to avoid them. That seemed to yank the former ZAFT pilot out of his zone, because the LaGOWE's leg mounted beam cannons swiveled back and returned fire at the Strike Noir. Ryoko cursed at herself for forgetting about those as she put her Gundam into a barrel roll, although now she knew why Pryde had been so adamant about adding them. Ignoring the return beam fire, Ryoko kept up her own assault.

"Impressive. You're better than I would have expected." Pryde spoke out over the radio again.

Despite the compliment, Ryoko still felt anger well up in her. "Shut up. I don't take praise from genocidal psychopaths!"

Pushing for additional power to her thrusters, she snapped the Strike Noir into a gut wrenching dive, one that would have likely strained a natural pilot. She put up a full barrage from her beam rifles, trading off shots from one to the other in succession. The angle of her dive made it so that she would fly across the LaGOWE's back, and she was aiming to destroy the missile launcher, but Pryde seemed to see through that and banked the LaGOWE to the left just as she opened fire. As such, the best she got was clipping off part of the right wing with a beam shot, while the rest of her fire landed in the sand.

Ryoko tried to angle the left beam rifle out so she could put a shot into the LaGOWE's side, but before she could Pryde banked back to the right, forcing Ryoko to pull back and gain altitude before he side swiped the Noir. Ryoko's mouth turned into a grimace as her teeth clacked together painfully, and she felt herself growl at Pryde's reckless maneuver. Had he actually slammed into the Noir, the LaGOWE would also have been thrown off as well and considering its speed plus the fact it wasn't equipped with Phase Shift armor, the ZAFT suit would have been totaled and Pryde killed. _Just how suicidal is this guy?_

Reacting quickly, she brought the targeting reticle for her "Igelstellung IIs" to bear and fired, feeling the rattle of the 40mms as she did. The twin streams of bullets stitched a path through the air, then placed bullet holes into the LaGOWE's exposed back, although none had managed to hit the missile launcher. A small explosion sounded from the rear portion of the mobile suit, signaling that Ryoko had hit something vital there, but the quadruped kept on its course without any drop in speed.

"Now you're beginning to disappoint me Miss Nagato." Pryde taunted over the radio. "Surely you can do better than that."

_I'm getting nowhere like this._ Ryoko thought. This was not the kind of fight she wanted. When she had been restoring the Strike Noir, she used to fantasize about battle aces from the Bloody Valentines in her mobile suit, wondering if she could fight as well as they did or had once. Now she had gotten her wish, only there were an untold number of lives on the line, and she didn't have the time she needed to overcome her opponent; any time Pryde could launch the nukes and that would be it. And it didn't look like the old man was even breaking a sweat evading her.

The sudden return from the leg mounted beam cannons snapped Ryoko out of her thoughts quickly enough, forcing her to go into a zig-zagging flight path to evade the beams. She fired back, but like before, none of her shots hit their mark. "Will you fucking hold still!?"

"Getting frustrated, are we?" Pryde shot back over the radio again.

Ryoko held back any more words in order to keep her temper in check; even she knew it would be her undoing here. But she didn't cease her attack on the LaGOWE, instead switching to the 175mm rocket propelled grenades mounted on both of her beam rifles and launching them. This time Pryde actually had to veer off to fully dodge the grenades, and even then one of the resulting explosions tore off the left leg mounted beam cannon as well as a good portion of the ZAFT mobile suit's armor. It was only dumb luck that the wings and the mounted thruster pods remained intact.

* * *

_Maybe I pushed her too far. _Pryde thought as sparks flew around the LaGOWE's cockpit and his computer screamed at him that there were multiple points of external and internal damage. How the LaGOWE didn't simply fall apart then and there Pryde didn't know, but he gave a silent "thank you" to the suit's designers, wherever they were. At the same time however, his suit had taken massive damage, and now the veteran, who was already laboring to control his enhanced mobile suit, found himself struggling even further. This wasn't anything Pryde hadn't been expecting, but it still hindered him in carrying out his mission.

His monitor still displayed the Strike Noir up in the air above him, attempting to close in again now that it had neutralized one of his rear beam cannons. Fortunately, the other cannon was still working, and Pryde fired a triple blast up at the black Gundam to make it veer off. And as he expected, Ryoko Nagato replied with a rainstorm of green beam shots, the volume of which was so great that Pryde had to transform his mobile suit back into its quadruped mode momentarily and use the LaGOWE's animal-like maneuverability to evade the shots, only transforming back into tank mode when most of the barrage had been avoided.

"_Jii_-san, please." Ryoko spoke over the radio again, pleading despite her misgivings. "Even if I don't scrap your mobile suit, it won't be able to hold up if you activate the booster, not with that damage. Just head back to Brisbane."

"Nonsense. This LaGOWE has survived worse than what you're dishing out." Pryde grunted in response. The single rear beam cannon lit up once more to drive the point home, but the Strike Noir banked and avoided the shots with ease. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this Miss Nagato, the years I've spent trying to pretend everything was alright, when in reality nothing was. You have no idea what it's like to live in exile, not being able to die but having no reason to live, all the while the murderers and warmongers managed to survive destruction when those less deserving hadn't. After this is over, that will all change."

Pryde could sense the disbelief from the other pilot. "So that's what you're doing all this for? For closure to a war that ended thirty years ago-!?"

"_NO!_" Pryde roared, finally feeling the last of his restraint slip away at Ryoko's accusation. "That war _never_ ended for me! Just because the politicians signed pieces of paper _claiming_ the hostilities ended, _pretending_ that both sides no longer hated each other, does not make up for all the deaths and sacrifices I and soldiers like me made out there! None of them could understand that, not when we were the ones doing the fighting while they sat back in their command centers and directed the war from maps and computers!"

The veteran allowed himself to calm down some before he continued, although he was still breathing heavily from the outburst. "You asked me why I was still here after the Exodus. I told you the truth on all but one thing: I did actually choose to be left behind, because I had nothing to return to. My family? They were visiting relatives on Junius Seven just as the Alliance carried out Bloody Valentine. My friends? Most were killed in different battles throughout the First War, and the ones that survived it only lived to die in the Second. I lost _everything_ in those few years of my life, and you dare tell me that my war ended with the signing of the Junius Treaty!?"

And with the flipping of a few switches and pushing down further on the foot pedals, Pryde activated the LaGOWE's booster. Almost immediately, the shaking increased violently and the computer blurted out even more warnings, but Pryde ignored it all; he was going to see this through or die trying. The Strike Noir itself began to minimize in the distance. "Maybe the world really has moved on from the evils that I had to live through, but God help me, I haven't! And for that reason alone, I will cast my vengeance!"

* * *

"_Jii_-san!" Ryoko called out as the LaGOWE's booster rockets activated in a bright flash. Almost instantly it began to pull away from the Strike Noir, and even as Ryoko tried to match velocity, she wasn't able to keep up. In desperation, she took duel shots with her beam rifles at the quadruped, but the beams landed behind the LaGOWE and burned two miniature smoking craters in the desert floor.

Ryoko could feel the sinking feeling in her stomach grow as Pryde got closer to accomplishing his mission, and in truth, Ryoko couldn't find it in herself to condemn him. She had, after all, been the same way even if she hadn't fought in the wars. She had seen many people die around her over her lifetime, including a loved one, all killed by a band of murderers that somehow managed to survive their due judgment, and although that judgment had caught up with them in the end, Ryoko could still remember the hatred and resentment she had; similar to what she was feeling from Pryde.

But then she reminded herself once more that Pryde would also be killing innocent lives just so he could get at the murderers that had it coming, something even she wouldn't have done, and that was enough to keep her going here. Cursing to herself and biting back any pity or reluctance that she felt toward shooting down the man she had come to know well over the past few days, she kept up her charge and put the Strike Noir into overdrive, all the while ignoring the extra Gs her suit was racking.

The extra boost in speed kept the LaGOWE from disappearing entirely over the horizon, but there was a great distance between them now, and Ryoko knew she would never be able to catch up in time to stop Pryde from firing the nukes like this. And by now he was well out of range of her beam rifles. She kept her gaze over her target as her mind raced to come up with a solution. _Shit, there has to be something…_She felt her head bolt when a solution came to mind. Between the time of its activation and to this point, Ryoko had used almost every weapon in the Strike Noir's arsenal at least once in battle, and had since grown accustomed to them through all the training simulations that Virgil made her go through. The only ones she hadn't used yet were the twin MAU-M3E42 "Huckebein" beam cannons, which were mounted on the underside of the wings, opposite of the "Fragarachs". In fact, Ryoko hadn't known about their existance until she had gone over the technical readout of her mobile suit just after her fight at Carpentaria.

Thumbing her weapons select, she brought the cannons online and waited until they folded up and over the Noir's wings in their firing positions. Immediately energy started to flow into the cannons, and Ryoko pulled down her targeting scope and dropped the crosshairs upon the LaGOWE. It was still a great distance away, and speeding up, and to make matters worse Ryoko couldn't get a clear bead on it. There was also hesitance on the fact that this would be the first time she ever fired the "Huckebeins", and although she had read their capabilities on paper (so to speak), she had no idea what kind of effect they would have. For all she knew, it would destroy the Noir along with the LaGOWE.

By now she could feel her own breathing and the strain her body was taking from the velocity the Noir was flying at, along with the struggle to keep her aim; it was almost hard labor to keep herself level and her eyes from blinking. And on top of it all, she knew she only had seconds left; this was not good for playing sniper.

"Come on… Come on… Come on…" she muttered as she angled the shaking target reticle upon the retreating LaGOWE. "Just once… Give me a clear sho-…"

Her scope flashed and beeped in indication. She had a lock.

"Go down!" she called out as she pulled back on the trigger hard. Upon her command streams of energy poured out of the cannons, and Ryoko felt the entirety of the Strike Noir recoil from their power. The streams sailed through the night sky like two neon green comets, and almost immediately they struck straight on into the LaGOWE. By some strange twist, neither of the beams had struck the main body, but instead shot across the sides of the quadruped, sheering off the legs, wings and armor, as well as causing secondary explosions that rocked across the main body.

However, Ryoko had been a millisecond too late. A pair of white streams coming off from the LaGOWE signified that it had launched the missiles before the beams had hit.

"Shit, _no_!!" Ryoko cursed, shoving the targeting scope aside and putting her suit into as much burn as she could muster. She was immediately slammed against her cockpit chair, but she ignored both the pain and the strain, her anxiety keeping her on task. Again she aimed both beam rifles and fired up into the sky, along with additional shots from the "Huckebeins", but despite her efforts, Newton's Second Law of Motion was in effect here, and the two "Scorpio" missiles were travelling at a much greater velocity than the LaGOWE that had produced them.

And then the shots ceased altogether. A long, shrill beep soon filled the cockpit, and when Ryoko took a look at her instruments, she realized that she was out of energy.

"_No, no, no, not now_!" she cried at the display, begging her mobile suit, God or whoever was listening out there for just a little more time. But her screams were heedless, signified by the Strike Noir's VPS armor disengaging and its dark colors fading into basic gray. Letting out one final scream at her failure, she slammed her gloved fist into the monitor.

* * *

It seemed like an eternity had passed since he had pulled the trigger that would doom a fair portion of humanity. It also felt like an eternity since the Strike's final blitz had surprisingly reached him and had all but totally destroyed Pryde and his once proud machine.

He didn't know how long it had been since, but for that time Pryde had felt little to nothing except for his own fingers, which were buried in the ruins of his own torso. He could almost feel his own insides with them, or at least the portions that weren't burned to a crisp. And if he had the energy to peer down at his body, he would likely have seen that his black uniform had grown much darker as blood poured out and soaked into it, not that the feeling of his own blood soaked into his clothing was unfamiliar to him.

The LaGOWE was effectively disabled and dying, if not dead already. Whatever it was Ryoko had hit him with, it had done its job, as almost every part of the mobile suit was now in a smoking ruin. Although by sheer luck the cockpit had been missed, the shock was enough that Pryde's front instrument panels all exploded right into him, blasting massive chunks of metal and glass into his body as well as igniting his flesh with electrical fires. This happened all the while the LaGOWE was in the process of crashing into the sand from its velocity, as both its primary rockets and treaded legs had been burned away; needless to say it had been quite a painful trip before the metal carcass finally stopped entirely. By that point Pryde was able to reach for the fire extinguisher and take out the flames, but that was all he was able to do now as his entire being had been spent.

Amidst the pain however, Pryde felt a satisfaction with himself that he hadn't felt in a long time. Although there was no certainty that the nukes would reach their targets, whether by miscalculation on his part or by Ryoko shooting them down (since he saw no flashes he assumed the latter never happened), he knew that he had accomplished his own side to the mission and that gave him great relief. And for the first time in over two decades, Pryde allowed himself to smile and laugh at his triumph.

His laughter however, was cut short by a proximity warning from his sensors, which along with his cockpit monitors somehow managed to survive destruction. Pryde peered out to see the Strike mobile suit advancing toward the remains of his suit, only now it was walking instead of flying and the black and dark gray colors it had before were now replaced by basic gunmetal gray. Although it still hefted a beam rifle in either arm, it was pretty obvious that the Alliance built monstrosity was out of energy.

Ignoring the agony doing so, Pryde reached up to an overhead display and re-established radio contact with the Noir. "It's over now… at long last."

"You didn't have to do." Ryoko spoke, in a mixture of sorrow and anger, although the latter didn't seem to be directed at Pryde. "It didn't have to come to this."

"Yes it did. I needed this, along with the comrades that fell before me." Pryde replied. "And I don't regret anything about it."

Ryoko didn't reply, thus putting a moment of silence between them with only Pryde only being able to hear the sparking of the broken wiring in his cockpit. He let that continue for a minute or two, before he continued. "If you're lucky Miss Nagato, you won't ever have to go through what I did for the last thirty years. It might not occur to you now, but you're exactly where you want to be; don't ever give that up."

"That's enough _Jii_-san. I'll be down to help you out of there, just open the cockpit when I get there." Ryoko said hurriedly. Pryde even heard the clicks of her unfastening her cockpit restraints.

The veteran laughed a little at that. Even after everything he had done, she was still willing to help him. "Your kindness is touching, but it's too late for me. This is going to be my last battle."

"_Jii_-san!" Ryoko called out.

"Don't worry, as much as you may hate me for it, I got what I wanted in the end." Pryde said. By now the numbness in his body was growing; he didn't have much time left. "But I would appreciate one last favor…"

The Strike's head looked up, as if the suit itself wanted to hear Pryde's final words.

"Please… Send me home." Pryde spoke softly in almost a whisper, before he closed his eyes one last time.

And after a passing moment, the Strike Noir's CIWS lit up with a single burst. No more words were uttered after that.

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Off the Coast of Australia  
May 7th, CE 101**

Virgil Reneghan's boots rapped on the deck floor as he marched loudly down the hallway toward his destination while carrying a metal box in hand. It was a curious sight to behold, but the other people on the deck paid him no heed, instead concentrating on going about their tasks or getting to their own quarters, as dusk had set in now and many wanted to get some needed sleep after all the hard work and hangovers. Virgil himself would occasionally nod at people in acknowledging their presence, but he didn't stop to chat with anyone. Apparently, he had some kind of obligation to fulfill.

By now the _Odyssey_ moving again and Brisbane as well as all of Australia was nothing more than a fading grouping of lights over the horizon. They had left on schedule, as Lee wanted, without any harassment from the group that had come after them from East Asia, which everyone had wanted. That didn't mean their departure was without problems though; after the ordeal the night before, Ryoko had returned to the _Odyssey_ in practical defeat, only going stopping to Lee's office so that he and Lyn could debrief, and then going straight to her room while somehow avoiding eye contact with anyone along the way. She had not come out since then.

Virgil allowed a small hint of a frown to come across his face at that; he knew what she was going through, and defeat always had a sad taste to it. For the most part though, Lee and Lyn had kept news of Pryde's final act from spreading to the ship's crew, so very few people knew of the event, and those that did know didn't condemn Ryoko. Even Gabriel and Kurtz had kept any comments to themselves.

Unfortunately though, there was no real way of knowing whether the nukes hit or not; after the Exodus, the world media and information network generally collapsed with everything else. So outside of local news transmitted over radio waves by people who could actually see the events happening, the population of Earth were as blind to global events that were happening outside of their respective territories as they were back during the Dark Ages; but then if one thought about it, there really wasn't much difference between that time period and this one. Funny how that was.

Turning the corner tightly, Virgil soon came face to face with the door to Ryoko's quarters. Without hesitation, he reached out and knocked on the door twice. "It's Virgil. Can I come in?"

No answer came. Shrugging, Virgil slipped one hand into his pocket and pulled out a single card key, to which he slid into the code display next to the door. It soon flashed green, and the door slid open revealing the inside of the room to the pilot.

Glancing over to the bed, Virgil saw that Ryoko was up and sitting on the side of it, looking down at the metal floor in thought and sadness. She was only dressed in a faded Lacus Clyne tanktop and her underwear, but she didn't look up once, apparently not caring if the intruder saw her like that. If it wasn't obvious to Virgil that Ryoko wasn't feeling good about herself before, then it was definitely obvious now.

Without waiting for her to speak up, he walked in and had the door slide closed behind him. He then spoke up to break the silence. "No offense Ryoko, but you really look like shit."

"I didn't say you could come in." Ryoko said, her voice lacking its normal temperament.

"You didn't say I couldn't come in either." Virgil pointed out. He then walked over and sitting next to her on the bed, placing the box on his lap.

"What are you here for?" Ryoko asked, looking at him through the corner of her eye.

Upon that question, Virgil turned to face her and gestured toward the box. "To give you these."

Smoothly, Virgil undid the metal lock to the box and opened it up. Inside was a pair of black colored pistols, which Ryoko could easily identify both as the ancient Colt M1911A1, along with a set of .45 bullets at the side. Confusion became apparent upon the coordinator.

"Just a little 'welcome to the team' present I've been meaning to give you." Virgil explained. "Fully restored with customized triggers, bored chambers, added compensators, and a whole list of other 'er' words. They may recoil a bit, but nothing you can't handle."

Ryoko looked at Virgil questioningly. "You're giving me these?"

Virgil let his smirk come into play. "Well, I'm not going to shoot you with them. Here, take one."

Nodding, Ryoko reached in and grabbed one of the guns. She let her hands adjust to the weight, before reaching and pulling back on the slide once. After taking aim toward the doorway, imagining a bad guy breaking through the door, she pulled the trigger once and heard the distinctive indescribable sound of a gun hammer falling down on an empty chamber. It sounded solid to her, and she found herself looking at the gun once more.

"Not bad huh?" Virgil said, smirk turning into a smile. "Now when you get chased out of a bar with me and Gabriel, you can join in on the fun that follows."

"They're nice and all, but you're not giving me these to feel better, are you?" Ryoko said with the same tone as before. "Because there are better ways to cheer people up."

"No, I'm giving them to you because you're on my team, and unless you're going to take that assault rifle everywhere you go…" Virgil pointed to the corner of the room where Ryoko had stashed the G136 she had gained at Stirling. "Then you don't have anything to defend yourself with besides your kung fu and charming personality."

Virgil had expected Ryoko to give him a dirty look for that comment, but she didn't bite. This was worse than he thought. "Why did you give me two?"

"You're ambidextrous." Virgil explained. "I can see it in your movements, both in a mobile suit and out. I figured it would be easier for you to hold two guns instead of just one."

"Heh." Ryoko laughed a little, as she put the gun back in the box. "You know a lot of things, don't you?"

"More than others." Virgil replied, closing and setting the box on the side of the bed. Now came the hard part. "Look Ryoko, nobody's blaming you for the geezer's stint. We all fucked up on this one, so don't be so hard on yourself."

"No, it's not that." Ryoko replied, thinking. "Do we even know what his target was?"

"Yes, May found it on his computer. He was aiming the nukes for Blue City, in what used to be Kansas." Virgil explained.

Ryoko's lips curled into a sneer. "The city that Blue Cosmos was founded in."

"And where most of their followers resided, even to this day. I'll give him this much, he knew what he was shooting at, and part of me thinks they all had it coming since they survived Break the World. It probably survived the Exodus fallout to." Virgil said.

"That doesn't justify it." Ryoko snapped.

"Of course not." Virgil agreed.

Ryoko gazed at the ground again. "The thing that upsets me the most is if he had a chance to do more, he would have without any hesitance. Why…?"

The Verde Buster pilot shrugged. "There are a number of reasons, but they all break down to the fact that he was human, and he felt pain and loss like every other living thing in existence."

"So in order to relieve that pain, he became just like the people that killed his family?" Ryoko asked.

"Pretty much." Virgil answered. "Men like Matthias Pryde never survive the wars they fight in. Oh sure, he was alive physically, but the person he was before the First Bloody Valentine War died a long time ago. What you saw was a ghost, something that continues to thrive in the land of the living because he can never truly rest. The pain is just too great for that."

The pilot reached an arm out around Ryoko's shoulder to comfort her as much as he could. "Cheer up, weepy: Pryde made his choice long before you were around. There was nothing you could have done to change his mind."

"I suppose so…" Ryoko muttered in distaste. "But I still could have stopped him…"

"Maybe you could have, but the fact is you weren't able too." Virgil said, watching as Ryoko grimaced. "Yes, I know it hurts like hell, but there's no way you can go back and change it. And if you can't move on… Then you'll turn into the same monster Pryde became."

Ryoko looked up at Virgil with pained eyes and an equally pained smile. "You have a funny way with words Virgil Reneghan. Now I really _feel_ like shit too."

"What are friends for?" Virgil smiled back, patting Ryoko on the shoulder. "Now get dressed, so I can get you a stiff drink…"

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


	10. Phase 09: Fallen Kingdom

"_People die in war: a true statement, but also an excuse warmongers like to use to justify casualty numbers. What they tend to forget is that the more people die in war, the more ghosts we have haunting our houses."_  
- Athrun Zala

**Phase 09: Fallen Kingdom**

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Pacific Ocean  
May 16th, CE 101**

"And twenty something years later, Break the World continues to screw us all…"

Lee wasn't sure which among his bridge crew had uttered that statement, and while he didn't appreciate the coarse language, he too felt it best described the situation at hand. Just outside of the viewports of the _Odyssey_'s bridge, one could see a dark grey overcast sky that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the last few hours, along with once-calm-now-growing-violent ocean waters and the beginnings of massive rainfall. Heavy wind currents were also present, and even from the protection of the bridge one could hear that distinctive whistle of a perfect storm in the making.

Before Break the World occurred, storms like this did not commonly occur in the pacific, but as a bonus from the massive amounts of geographical damage, Junius Seven's descent had also caused massive changes in the weather too. Global climates were continuously shifting to this day, and since all of the Earth's weather satellites had been destroyed during the Exodus, there was almost no way to predict when a storm or cataclysmic event would occur. Entire towns and cities had been destroyed because of those events, and their populations wiped out because nobody had seen it coming until the very last minute; more things Lee wished to pay back the PLANTs for someday, if they still existed.

Fortunately, the _Odyssey_ was equipped with a weather radar system that calculated weather patterns in the ship's proximity, so the marauders weren't as blind as others were. And if Lee was reading the tactical display screen right, the one at the back of the bridge to be exact, then he was very much glad he wasn't one of those other people.

"I don't think the designers made this ship to sail through hurricanes sir, especially ones that could go to category five." Lyn observed the growing, whirling spiral that signified the storm.

"A fact that I have noted well Lyn, but we may have to unless we find a port somewhere." Lee explained with a grim nod. "I don't suppose we're anywhere near the Hawaiian coast yet?"

"We won't be for another few days." Lyn said.

"And we're too far away from the Melanesian islands to just turn around toward Fiji." Lee observed. Deep down in himself, he was starting to wish that he were running a different ship type; sure he loved the _Odyssey_ as he had his previous Alliance commands, but he wouldn't have had to worry about this storm if the _Ulysses_-class battleship could fly or dive underwater. Where was a good _Archangel_-class when you needed one?

"Can't we just sail around it all?" Simone Walker wondered out loud from her station. Aside from the helmsmen James Seddon who was too busy trying to keep the ship on course through the choppy water and muttering curses while he was at it, everyone was either looking or listening intently toward the back of the ship where Lee and Lyn were standing.

Lyn resisted the urge to scowl at Simone's bordering stupid question. "This ship would never be able to cover that much distance, not at the rate the storm is moving. We're going to run into it no matter what we do."

"Fucking convenient how this had to happen when _we're_ in the middle of the ocean." the gunnery chief Jackson Bragg muttered around his cigarette.

Simone gave him a funny glance. "What? Are you saying that this was all planned out in advance?"

"God always did have a special hate for people like us. Why not?" Jackson shrugged as he puffed a cloud of smoke.

Lyn was about to tell them to concentrate on their jobs before the conversation got out of hand, but before she could, her eye caught something on the map she hadn't seen at first glance. She pointed to the spec that was just away from the _Odyssey_'s current position. "What about that island there? It's close enough to put the ship aground and hope for the best sir."

"We could, but I don't think many of us would feel safer." Lee replied, double checking the island's shape and profile to make sure it was what he thought it was. "That's Orb you're pointing to."

And instantly after those words left Lee's mouth, the atmosphere on the bridge chilled to an almost sub-zero level as a silent, unspoken terror set upon the crew. Even Lyn snapped her hand back from the map screen, quite obviously regretting pointing it out.

"No rotten way I'm setting foot in Orb!" Jackson immediately proclaimed to the world, his mouth now lacking a cigarette as it had dropped to the ground from his shock. "I'd rather duke it out with the wind and water than turn into a mutant!"

"Aren't there any other islands out there!? Ones that don't cause you to glow from just breathing the air!?" Simone nearly shrieked out in a panic.

"Sorry, but it's just like the captain and Lyn said. We're too far away from any ports or large enough landmasses. If radiation weren't the issue, Orb would be the best place in the world for a ship this size, assuming the Morgenroete harbor on Onogoro Island is still around…" Nathan Rosser, the sensor operator and part time navigator, tried to explain as calmly as he could.

"Fuck off Nathan! I still say we're better off taken our chances with the rain!" Jackson bellowed, with others protesting with him.

They were all silenced by the tapping of Lee's swagger stick against the metal floor. "None of you are solving our problem bickering. If anyone has a better solution, I am willing to hear it out; if not, then keep to your jobs or I'll start throwing people off the ship, and then those individuals can swim all the way to North America."

"But Captain, it's a fucking death wish." Jackson stated once again. "Orb's ground zero. Nobody's ever gone in there and come back to talk about it; hell, people still tell stories about 'what happened' over campfires and choice alcohol."

"Sounds like you're more afraid of the 'ghosts' than you are turning green, Jackson." Simone couldn't help but point out.

"And you're not?" Jackson barked back.

"Shut up! The Captain already said to stow it!" Lyn barked with greater force to quiet both down once more.

In the midst of it all, James looked back from the helm and answered the question that everyone was wondering. "I don't think she can hold it together through these swells, Captain."

"Wind speed is two hundred and five km/h and rising. If we're going to put her in, now's our only chance sir." Nathan added from his sensors.

The captain took all this in with calmness upon his face that he wasn't feeling inside himself. He himself didn't believe in the ghost stories that surrounded Orb, but he did not dismiss that the island was dangerous and had good reason for the tales and reputation it had gained over the past fifteen years. Besides, there was one more option he hadn't considered before.

"Mister Seddon, bring us to port at two-nine-zero and increase speed to thirty eight knots. We're putting her to harbor. Mister Rosser, if you'd please enlarge the map on Onogoro." Lee said.

The captain waited for Nathan to follow the order before continuing, to which he pointed to a certain spot on the map. "There's a hangar at this spot, built within a cliff face; this will be our birth. It was originally used to house the _Archangel_, so the _Odyssey_ should be able to fit into it, and since Onogoro is separate from Orb's mainland, the radiation levels will likely be low."

Lyn looked at him skeptically. "If I may ask Captain, how do you know about this hangar?"

"Because I've been inside it." Lee answered, before walking to his chair and grabbing the intercom receiver on the arm.

* * *

Evasion skills kicking into overdrive, Gabriel Zola skillfully dodged another punch that Ryoko Nagato had aimed at his face. The punch ended up flying forward and landing on the foot of the black Windam belonging to Thomas Kurtz, causing a metallic rumble that threatened to echo across the entire ship, and Gabriel cringed at the thought that it could have been his face. He chose that moment to switch back to the offensive, thinking the impact would have disoriented Ryoko, but much to his surprise the coordinator brought back her arm to block his own kick, her fist either feeling no pain from hitting the metal foot or just ignoring it.

To the side of them the crowd of mechanics cheered loudly as the two combatants fought. Even May was in on it, cheering Ryoko to beat her opponent into hamburger meat. Nobody seemed to care that the two were out to kill each other; a fight like this had been building up for some time now, ever since the coordinator Ryoko came onboard the ship and had to share space with the coordinator hating Gabriel. It had finally reached a breaking point when Gabriel said one word too many about Ryoko's genetic lineage while she had been doing maintenance on the Strike Noir, which resulted in her making a flying kick at Gabriel's head and things going down from there. Not even the rocking of the ship slowed things down, which was curious because this was the first time Ryoko Nagato had been out to sea.

Of course, the surrounding mechanics and crew members in the hangar deck loved the action, and not long after bets were made on either fighter. However, there was no clear outcome, with Ryoko's coordinator strength and reflexes and martial arts honed skill being an equal match for Gabriel's paramilitary grade fighting style and battle experience. The fight was constantly shifting from one fighter to the other; not that anyone cared as long as the punches and kicks were flying.

"Come on Ryoko, beat the piss out of him! I got twenty riding on you!" May called out through the hollers of the crowd.

"Better give up your money now Chief. Gabriel's on fire today!" one of the mechanics said in response to May.

"Ha!" May laughed once. "He can't even touch her, even with that crappy attitude of his! I'm going to be richer for sure!"

For the most part, the two combatants didn't care about the crowd or their betting on either of them; they were so focused on beating each other senselessly, or at least trying to, that nothing else really mattered. They even stopped taunting each other after a few punches into the fight, instead focusing their energies on attacking, defending and countering.

Suddenly finding the strength within himself, Gabriel launched a hammer-like kick into Ryoko's gut that made the coordinator fold over. Ryoko gasped as air was suddenly forced out of her, but it wasn't enough to take her out, as she counterattacked with a headbutt that made the natural see stars flash in his eyes. In turn Gabriel staggered, and with a tigress-like growl Ryoko recovered herself and charged forward with a flying roundhouse kick that Gabriel only narrowly avoided, followed by another series of kicks and punches. With Ryoko's enhanced strength, he wasn't going to take any chances with absorbing a solid hit; after all, she supposedly killed a guy with a punch once, or that's what she claimed.

Noticing how Gabriel was dodging her attacks rather than blocking them, Ryoko became even more aggressive, pressing her attack with a triple palm strike that would have really messed up Gabriel's face on contact, to which she followed with a spin kick. It surprised her when Gabriel finally decided to defend himself, by grabbing her leg before it could make contact with his head. It was enough to make Ryoko lose her balance, and that was all Gabriel need to go and grab her jacket collar and slam her on the metal floor. Letting out a roar, he wailed with punch after punch across Ryoko, reveling in the pain and force he was causing to the coordinator.

Cornered and seeing stars, Ryoko did the only thing she could do and bring her leg up to kick Gabriel on the back of the head. The blow only dazed Gabriel for a second, but Ryoko managed to throw him off of her by that time. Aggravated, Gabriel charged again and once more the fight became a tornado of ducking, dodging, weaving, grappling and numerous attacks to the head, torso and appendages of either person.

And with the stopping power of a boom of thunder, the sound of Captain Lee's voice speaking over the intercom halted both the fighters and the spectators in their actions. "Attention 'loyal' crew of the _Odyssey_…"

"Hey, it's our lord and master!" one of the mechanics piped up as everyone's attention turned upward toward the sound of the voice.

"Due to abnormal weather conditions, I regret to inform you that our arrival in North America will be delayed for an untold period of time. In order to gain shelter from the hurricane that's directly ahead of us, the _Odyssey_ will be making birth at the ruins Onogoro Island off the coast of Orb…"

Just as suddenly as those words had rang through the metal confines of the hangar, the amusement that everyone had been feeling before evaporated away like water in a desert sun, and expressions of fear and panic began to spread throughout the interior. Even Gabriel looked as though the captain had given out a death sentence, and Ryoko, who had no idea what was going on, was starting to feel uneasy at the sight of so many expressions of doom.

"Let me assure you that I am very well aware of the stories and folklore surrounding Orb at this time, and that I would not have made this decision if there were better options available. However, it is how it is, and I expect everyone to follow through in spite of that. Once we dock, all crew will be on standby until further orders. That is all."

Silence soon reigned in the hangar deck, the kind of deathly silence that came when one or more were about to enter a place where they didn't want to go, expecting that death would be close by. That is until someone finally found the nerve to speak up. "My God… We're doomed."

"Ummm…" Ryoko said, walking up to the assembly of mechanics. "I might hate myself for asking this, but what exactly is so bad about going to Orb?"

"You don't know?" May asked, her face also one of pure dread.

When Ryoko shook her head, May opened her mouth to speak, but Austin was the one who spoke first. "Before we answer that, you do know about Orb in general, right?"

"Small island nation in the middle of the Pacific, home country of Kira Yamato, Cagalli Yula Athha and Shinn Asuka, adopted home country of Athrun Zala and Lacus Clyne, legendary for having been able to fight off both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT in the Bloody Valentines. And despite participating in either war, it had a staunch neutrality policy and did not regularly interfere in world affairs." Ryoko quoted from what she could remember. "That's generally what they taught me in history class."

"There's a little more to it than that." Austin's eyes darkened. "About three months before the Exodus began, Orb ended up being invaded by a military force, and apparently a strong one because their Defense Force was supposedly fought into a corner. It's not known how the battle went down or which side was going to win, but toward the end of it some son of a bitch detonated a nuke and just wiped everything off the map."

The mention of a nuclear detonation immediately brought up memories of Matthias Pryde, and Ryoko fought to keep the accompanying feelings back. "Who invaded? ZAFT? The Atlantic Federation?"

"That's the kicker." another mechanic said. "Nobody knows who attacked Orb because all of the nations denied responsibility for it, and many of them would have been too weak to have pulled it off. And to top it off, none of them would have had a good reason to invade because Orb and Morgenroete were working with the Junk Guild to repair the damage from the Wars."

"And ZAFT wouldn't have attacked because of Lacus Clyne." yet another pointed out.

"So that's it?" Ryoko looked skeptical. "One of the most powerful nations on the Earth gets destroyed and nobody has an idea who did it?"

"There was a rumor going around some time ago…" May spoke up again, just as darkly as the others. "It's complete bullshit but a few people believe it. The story claims that for its 'crimes' during the Bloody Valentine Wars and after, Orb was _punished_ by nine angels that came down from Heaven and reigned fire and lightning upon the land, and that to keep it from returning like it did before, all of its inhabitance were judged and purged accordingly until there was nothing left."

"Yeah, I heard that story too." yet another of the mechanics nodded sadly. "First time I heard it was in Marseilles. For 'complete bullshit' it sure did get around the world."

"Wasn't there another one about a blood feud between the ruling families?" someone else asked.

"That's the one where Rondo Mina Sahaku attempted a _coup de tat_ on Cagalli Yula Athha for control of the country, and it boiled into a civil war that ended in nuclear disaster." Gabriel answered as he himself walked up. "Not that I would know, I was too young to understand politics at the time."

"Well whatever happened to Orb, all that's left of it is ruins and radiation. Since then only a few have dared to go into the island, but nobody's ever come back to tell what the hell happened there. Even the scavengers don't bother with it because the whole island is contaminated." Austin said.

"Must have been some bomb." Ryoko muttered in dry sarcasm.

"And we're going to sail right up into it." Gabriel snarled. "Just our luck."

"No getting around it though." May said before she turned back to her mechanics. "Alright people, fun time's over! We gotta make sure everything's tied down! _Mach schnell!_" And with that, the group broke up, but not without any complains or grumblings.

As May turned to go do her own thing, she felt the strong left hand of Ryoko Nagato reach out and grab her shoulder to stop her. "Hey May." Ryoko tried to ask without sounding unsure. "By any chance…"

May smirked a little. "You want to know if Lacus Clyne somehow survived Orb's end."

When Ryoko nodded, May's smirk turned into a sympathetic frown. "Unfortunately like everything else, nobody knows what happened to her or Kira Yamato and the others. There's a pretty good chance that they all died in the massacre as well."

The coordinator's eyes fell to the floor at the explanation. "I see…"

"Sorry." May said grimly, then turning away and going somewhere to boss people around.

As Ryoko was about to go herself, pushing aside the mixed feelings that were welling up in her as she did, she felt a sudden nudge as Gabriel Zola brushed across her shoulder forcibly. She looked up into his narrowed eyes, to which she returned the glare, and from those eyes she could almost hear the words Gabriel was thinking: _This isn't over_. After the moment passed between them, both coordinator and natural went their separate ways with no more words or fists exchanged.

* * *

Just like the stuff out of myths and legends, the isle of Onogoro began to appear in the distance like a dark specter over the sea, growing larger as the _Odyssey_ closed that said distance. Even from there, Lee could just make out the ruins of the harbor that once held Orb's navy at anchor, as well as the buildings that served as factory complexes and mobile suit hangars; more than enough places for the ghosts to linger. Lee himself didn't believe in ghosts, but having seen numerous "grave sites" like this one over his lifetime, he wouldn't be surprised if they did exist regardless. Stranger things had come to be, such as alien humpback whales from Jupiter.

As the island grew closer to Lee's field of vision, it occurred to him that it wasn't Onogoro that was making him feel unnerved; it was the silence that had overtaken the bridge ever since he gave that announcement. He might not have been on the bridge all the time, but he had never seen the men and women here this quiet before, and it was disturbing to him. He was almost tempted to give out an order just to break the damned eeriness, but the sound of the bridge door sliding open and closed followed by the intruder walking up beat him to the draw.

"Shit, I've been to state funerals that were louder than this." Virgil muttered as he looked around the bridge and the looks of terror that occupied it. He paused when his eyes glanced over the imposing Onogoro Island. "That is _not_ a beautiful site Ian."

"Don't tell me you came all the way up here to complain Virgil." Lee replied offhandedly.

Virgil smirked down at the captain. "My only complaint is your announcement interrupting my nap Captain." He spoke Lee's title dryly. "I was in the middle of lounging in Maui when I heard your sorry voice."

"My apologies. Next time I make an important decision, I won't put it through the PA so you can sleep easier." Lee replied just as dryly.

The Verde Buster pilot held up his hands in mock defeat. "No need to get testy." He looked back toward the viewport. "You sure this is a safe place to put her to dock Ian? Usually ruins like Onogoro have more to them than ghosts and remains."

Lee shook his head. "I doubt we will be running into any other Marauders here; Orb, after all, is not a very welcoming place. That fact always keeps the sane and intelligent out."

"Funny how it's not keeping _us_ out." Virgil pointed out. He rubbed his chin as a thought occurred to him. "On the other hand, this is Morgenroete's old haunt, if you can pardon the expression. I'll bet they left a ton of treasure behind when they departed."

This gained a funny look from Lee. "You want to go through the ruins at a time like this?"

"Just a consideration." Virgil explained.

"I'm not sending people out in the open Virgil." Lee stated first.

"No need for that, the mobile suits will be enough. If the storm gets too bad, they would be able to make it back faster than anybody on foot." Virgil said.

"And the radiation?" Lee inquired.

"If those ruins are any indication…" Virgil pointed to the still standing buildings that, despite the darkness outside, were quite visible. "It doesn't appear that Onogoro was nuked. Besides, all our mobile suits are Alliance built, which means they're completely insulated from radioactivity."

Lee still did not look convinced. "Still seems like more risk than it's worth, but fine, do as you wish. Good luck convincing the others to follow you however."

"I can count on Ryoko and Gabriel. Kurtz's team may need a little persuasion, and nothing does that better then the prospect of fortune. No human can resist that entirely." Virgil explained with a grin.

"True enough." Lee acknowledged, then turned back to the viewport. By now he could also see the cliff side that contained their shelter. _Hopefully the power generators for the doorway are still working._ "Alright Simone, begin transmitting."

The radio operator did as she was told, typing in a code sequence that Lee had told her beforehand. A moment later, the entire face of the cliff began lowering into the ocean, revealing the hangar bay within. A mixture of gasps and other "impressed" sounds soon came over the bridge at the sight, although Lee said nothing himself.

"Open Sesame." Virgil smirk grew. "I'll be down in the hangar getting the suits ready." And with that, he turned and exited the bridge.

Lee watched him depart for a moment, but soon returned his gaze forward. He tried to push back any lingering doubts about the whole situation before he gave his next order. "Slow to twelve knots. Bring us in steady."

* * *

_One of these days I'm going to kick Virgil's ass for making me do stuff like this._ Gabriel thought bitterly as the Blu Duel's control systems and main camera came online, giving him the now regular two hundred seventy degree view of the _Odyssey_'s interior. After he checked around to see that the other five mobile suits had come online as well, he heard Virgil's voice speak through the radio. "We're up and running bridge. Give the word."

"Standby, we're still finishing docking procedures." Simone replied. The ship lurched a little as she said that, shifting into place of the massive hangar that it now occupied. The few moments of this only made Gabriel more peeved; he wasn't comfortable going out to rob graves at a time like this and just wanted to get the whole thing over with. After what seemed like a while, the ship finally set itself into place with a final thud. "There we go. Opening starboard gates."

With a soft rumbling, the two entry gates at the ship's bow folded out, and immediately Ryoko's Strike Noir moved towards them followed by Virgil's Verde Buster. Gabriel moved the Blu Duel along with them and cautiously walked out of the gate and onto the dock. The dock itself looked pretty deserted, and after taking a quick look at his sensors he found no radiation, so things were looking good for the moment. The hangar itself was a much bigger one than Gabriel was expecting; just by looking up, it looked like this entire portion of the island had been tunneled out to make it.

Behind the three Gundams, the Windam trio made their way out of the _Odyssey_'s hold as well. They were notably lacking their Jet Strikers, but still carried the shields and beam rifles; although the island was supposed to be deserted, Kurtz didn't want to take any chances. "So, anybody know where to go or what?" Kurtz smarted off over the radio.

"There's an access tunnel just up ahead." Virgil replied from the Verde Buster, which was standing closest to the Blu Duel. "It will take us to the surface. Assuming it's not closed off of course."

"Would almost be a shame if it was." Gabriel muttered, unintentionally loud enough that the Blu Duel's audio system picked it up and broadcasted to the other five mobile suits.

"What's the matter Gabriel? Too chicken to go up and take a look around?" Ryoko sneered, the Strike Noir turning back to face its counterpart. Gabriel replied by having the Blu Duel snap its right hand's middle finger to the black mobile suit.

A heavy metallic clang rocked Gabriel's suit as the Verde Buster actually backhanded it across the head. "If you two are done, we don't have much time before the storm hits this island in full force. Follow along please." Virgil spoke in that velvety smooth tone of his. The Verde Buster then turned toward the direction of the access tunnel and began walking, with the Windams coming behind.

Both deciding to put off their bad blood a little longer, Ryoko and Gabriel marched up with the group and entered the access tunnel that Virgil had pointed out. It was mobile suit sized, so there really weren't any problems getting through it, aside from Ryoko having to fold the Strike Noir's wings back in order to keep them from scraping the edges. Gabriel let out a small 'feh' at that; having wings on a mobile suit seemed to be more trouble than worth sometimes. After what seemed like hours of walking in the darkness, the group finally came across a steel door at the end of the tunnel, which looked thick enough to hold against a cannon shot.

Virgil had the Verde Buster reach out and tap the keypad that was next to the door, but there was no response. Frowning, he turned toward the Blu Duel. "If you'd be so kind, Gabriel…"

"Gladly." Gabriel said in response, as he had his suit walk up to the door. With a samurai style move, he drew both beam sabers from their knee racks, activated them and then slashed the door downward in an 'X' shape. When he was finished, he threw up the right leg and kicked against the center, making all four pieces of the door fly outward. Gabriel thought he heard someone mutter 'fucking showoff' over the radio at his little stunt, but he barely noticed as he was too fixated on what was now filling his cockpit monitor.

"Bingo. Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially hit the jackpot." Virgil stated over the radio as he came up from behind Gabriel, reflecting what the other five pilots were thinking, their reluctance to be there aside. Like an ancient relic of the past, the entirety of Morgenroete Inc. sprawled out before the group, with multiple hangars, industrial plants, shipyards and docks all lined in perfect form. It was the perfect ghost town-esque scene: all of the buildings were intact and undamaged as if just yesterday the facilities had been up and running, but the dark weather and the lack of any living human beings gave the whole area a feeling of eeriness.

But of course, that wasn't enough to keep the _Odyssey_ mobile suits and their pilots out. "Not picking up any radiation here." Ryoko called out as she had the Strike Noir scan the area.

Virgil checked his own sensors and saw the same result. This made him frown unconsciously. _Strange how _they_ completely destroyed Orb, but left Onogoro and its production facilities intact even if there is no one left to use them. Why is that I wonder…?_

"Hey Reneghan? You still there?"

The sound of Kurtz's voice snapped the Verde Buster pilot back to reality. "Yes. Sorry, just thought of something peculiar." He focused back on the area and the operation. "All six of us will split up from here. If you find anything you think is valuable, take it back to the _Odyssey_ and get back here fast; as said before we don't have much time out here. Now move out!"

* * *

"Three days stuck in this cave, huh?" May asked, leaning against a nearby crate with her arms crossed as Austin gave her his report.

"Yes, that's the estimate Lyn gave me when I talked to her. The Captain wasn't pleased with it either." Austin said next to her. In the background, one of the Windams was returning with additional equipment and parts that had been taken from the surface, giving the distinct rumbling of a mobile suit's metal foot stomping on the ground. "Any idea how you're going to break it to them?"

"What, the Captain's isn't going to make some grandiose announcement again?" May sneered, both at that and at the thought of the inevitable wailing she'd receive from her men after they heard. Sometimes she really hated this job.

Austin sighed, scratching the back of his scalp. "I don't think so; last I heard he and Doc Winter are having a wake of some kind. Apparently he visited this place a lot after the Second War ended, even knew a few people in the Orb Defense Force. One of them was his former CO."

Hearing that, May looked down toward the floor. That actually explained more than she had wanted to hear. "It must be really bad for him. Shit, I didn't even know…"

"Nobody does besides us, Virgil, Lyn and the Doctor." Austin said.

May didn't say anything for a moment; she was thinking of the strain Lee must have been feeling by being here. It almost made her sick to think that while the rest of the crew, including herself, were not happy about coming here because of the contamination among other things, the Captain out of all of them had real reason to not feel good about coming to Orb, and yet he didn't show it to his crew and in turn put up with their whining.

The younger mechanic wondered if she'd have to deal with something like that later in life, but pushed away such thoughts and changed the subject back. "For the original question, I'll think of something. But for right now I want them to keep working; the more they have to do, the less they have to whine about where we are."

That brought up another thing in May's mind. "On that subject, are we prepped in case one of the mobile suits gets irradiated?"

"I've got some people on standby for that, plus we have the decontamination equipment we picked up in New Chernobyl last year. Should anything happen, we're definitely prepared." Austin acknowledged.

"Good, because I get the feeling _anything_ will happen." May said, sighing. "Quoting from one of my grandfather's comic books, '_Mein spinnensinn prickeln ab.'_"

* * *

"Fifteen years, Doctor." Lee said, sighing as he looked over a picture that was in his hand. "It's been fifteen years since I've been here, since this place was alive. Where do you suppose all that time has gone?"

"I would answer that question, but I'm not _that_ kind of doctor, Captain." Cameron Winter spoke from the other side of the desk. "If you wanted a psychiatrist, you would do better to speak to someone else."

Lee made a short laugh at that. "You've been taking lessons from Virgil, haven't you?" he said, placing the picture on his desk. Much like the one that was already there, it displayed a younger version of Lee, but this time it had him standing next two people, a man and a woman, both of whom were dressed in Orb uniforms with rank insignias for Captain and Rear Admiral apiece. The man was notable for having a scarred face, but held shining blue eyes, dark blonde hair that was a little on the unkept side, and a determined smile that spoke volumes of his character. The woman standing next to him, a brunette, had soft brown eyes as well and a warm, kind smile that was rare on people with her rank.

Winter studied the picture for a moment, and then pushed his glasses up against his eyes once again. "I am merely stating a fact Captain Lee." He looked up intentionally so that the light would reflect off of the lenses. "Although I am curious. Why do you keep that photo around if it only brings you pain looking at it?"

"How do you know it brings me pain?" Lee asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I can see it through your posture, breathing and the way you narrow your eyes when you look at it. And while I said the workings of the human mind isn't my strong point, I can tell that the memories associated with that photograph only serve to hurt you." Winter explained.

Lee tapped the photo with his finger, nodding at the doctor's conclusion. "It always hurts to look back at the happier times, but I keep this photograph for two reasons. The first is because I don't want to forget those times, no matter how much it hurts to remember. The second is that it reminds me of why I started on this odyssey."

The captain leaned forward on the desk to meet Winter's eyes. "Back when I was a soldier, all I ever thought of was defending my country and the Earth from its enemies; the Bloody Valentine Wars to me were just wars that were started like those of the past and ended in similar manner. I realized only too late that they were far more than they appeared, and it cost me my friend, his family and an entire nation when I did."

"Don't tell me you blame yourself for Orb's destruction Captain, because I can tell you even from my viewpoint _that_ was far beyond your control." Winter replied sharply.

The captain favored Winter with a sad laugh. "The thought occurs to me often. When we learned Orb was going to be hit, I tried to rally the Atlantic Federation, or at least the remnants of the 81st, to the nation's defense. I argued that without the PLANTs backing us up, Orb was now our only shot at stabilizing the planet, and I believed it myself too. But those old bastards running the Atlantic at the time didn't even blink; all they did was order me to return to the mainland immediately and not look back."

The Doctor looked back at him skeptically. "Did the Atlantic Federation even have the military capability to offer such support?"

"Hell yes they did." Lee replied, almost growling at the frustration. "The Atlantic Federation was the least damaged of the post-EA nations; if we wanted to we could have sent both space and surface fleets to Orb's defense in a matter of days. But the President's attitude as well as that of military high command was the whole thing was an Orb problem, therefore Cagalli Yula Athha's problem, and therefore not _their_ problem. And as a result of their decision, we soon lost _everything_."

"Hm." Winter leaned back with his arms behind his head thinking. "Still, I don't think you could have done anything Captain. With the power and control that _they_ wielded, not even the Atlantic Federation could have stood up to them. Nothing on this planet could have."

"You're likely right." Lee's frown deepened. "Whatever force they hit Orb with was probably worlds apart from the weapons and tech we had, and if the President did give into my request I probably wouldn't be here now, but that was still one of the two most painful moments of my life."

The captain also leaned back into his chair. "Leaving them to die like that, believing that there was a way to help them but nobody wanted it." Lee sighed, looking back at the photo. "Remembering it now only makes me feel older and weaker. But if it will keep me going through this, then I will not forsake those memories."

"Well, as long as it doesn't effect your effectiveness or physical condition, I won't have a problem with it." Winter explained.

Lee looked at the doctor with a curious eye of his own, but he allowed a moment to pass before he spoke up. "You know, now that I think about it Doctor, you never did tell me why you joined this whole 'quest' yourself, or why you stayed on Earth while your kind left for that matter."

The Doctor looked up in confusion. "I didn't?"

"No you didn't. Virgil and I both gave our reasons, but not you." Lee drew a smirk. "Exactly what made the man who once was ZAFT ace Mikhail Coast turn and leave his homeland for a dying world?"

The doctor scowled at the mention of that. "I would prefer, Captain Lee, that you do not refer to me by that name, not even in private like this. I gave that reference to me up long before any of this started. However, to answer your question, I stayed behind for a few simple facts: I am a doctor, and this world is sick and dying as you said. What kind of medical man would I be if I ignored the plight of a dying patient?"

"Heh, you _have_ been taking lessons from Virgil." Lee laughed, more than he usually allowed himself too.

"If that's what you choose to believe." Winter pushed up his glasses again, letting the light glare off the lenses once more. "I've been thinking about that lately myself."

"What?"

"When exactly did this world come down with a terminal illness?" Winter asked. "Was it from the Exodus, the wars, or before that? Perhaps it was struck when _they_ came into existence, or maybe it had always been like this since its birth and only now is it winding down? As a doctor, I can't help but wonder when did this all begin?"

Lee nodded grimly. "I like to think it all started back when George Glenn announced the existence of coordinators to the world, expecting everyone to just accept them as a new stage of humanity without any prejudice or hate." the Captain laughed a little. "For a man that fancied himself as a scientist, explorer and philosopher, that had to be the most idiotic move anyone could make."

"Even coordinators are capable of making mistakes, as the Bloody Valentines proved." Winter stated. "Doesn't that make us any less human?"

"I'll remember that next time I walk into your sickbay for a checkup Doctor." Lee, in spite of his grief and sorrow, allowed himself to joke. His smile lasted only for a moment, before it turned into a serious scowl. "But I highly doubt _they_ would think of the destruction of Orb as a 'mistake' on their part. Celestials beings like them are too self-righteous to make 'mistakes'."

"And it's for that reason we're all here to begin with Captain." the Doctor concluded.

* * *

"Achoo!" Ryoko sneezed out loud suddenly, without cause or warning. Fortunately it hadn't disoriented her control over the Noir, which was in the process of transporting another metal crate back to the _Odyssey_.

"You alright over there?" came the ugly sounding voice of Kenneth Hughes, whose Windam was marching up from behind. "Hate to see a hot chick like you get sick in a place like this."

"Your concern is touching." Ryoko replied with as much sarcasm as she could muster, then turning back to concentrate on her work.

"Hey, no need to be that way. I'm just looking out for you." Kenneth defended himself with.

_More like 'looking out for my ass'._ Ryoko thought, subconsciously rolling her eyes. Being the newest female crew member, she had been the recipient of the elder Hughes brother's sexual harassment for the past few weeks, as the ugly little man took every opportunity he could to hit on her. It had finally reached a temporary stopping point when she grabbed the man's crotch, hard, and verbally threatened to rip his testicles off if he didn't leave her alone. Since then he had stopped actively flirting and simply tried to come across as 'friendly', but Ryoko still wanted nothing to do with him.

Trying her best to ignore the guy, she continued walking the Noir out of the hangar that it had been in and started to make her way toward the ship. Even with the strength of her mobile suit it was quite heavy, and Ryoko had to be extra careful with it. To make matters worse, the weather was getting darker, and the young coordinator could feel light rain fall against her mobile suit's black armor. It wouldn't be long now.

_And yet…_ stopping her tracks, Ryoko had the Noir's head turn toward the mountains that were at the back of the bay, which besides a small rift of ocean were the only things separating Onogoro from the Orb mainland. She couldn't quite place it, but she almost felt _drawn_ to what laid beyond those mountains, as if she could hear nearly silent voices calling to her, beckoning her to fly over them.

"Hey sweets, you alright?" she heard Kenneth ask her, but she didn't bother to answer.

That snapped Ryoko out of her trance and made her fixate another glare onto the black Windam. "Nothing. It's nothing, just looking at the mountains."

"Sheesh, you're starting to freak me out." Kenneth replied with a sigh. "What's so fascinating about the mountains anyway?"

"I don't know…" Ryoko muttered. She was still feeling drawn to what was beyond for some reason, and much to her inner dread she would likely not figure it out from where she was now. Just why was she feeling like this?

And as if to respond to her question with even more force, Ryoko felt a sudden bolt rain through her head, one that made her cringe from the shock. It only lasted for a brief moment, but it generated an image in her mind's eye. One that depicted a city bathed in light...

"What-EVER. Just don't go spacing out on me when…" Kenneth began to rant again, but then stopped when he saw the Strike Noir put down the crate it was holding and start walking toward the mountains that it had been staring at. Needless to say, Kenneth double-taked. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"I'm going to explore the island for a bit." Ryoko replied as the Strike Noir's wings spread out for flight.

"Are you out of your mind!? You'll get your ass roasted that way! One wrong move and you'll be a smear, get what I mean!?" Kenneth staggered.

The Windam started to move toward the Noir, as if it were going to physically hold it down, but it halted when the Gundam drew one of its "Derringer" beam pistols and took aim at the other mobile suit. The Hughes brother's eyes widened as he was suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun, mouth hung open unsure what to say.

"This is something I have to take care of myself." Ryoko stated with much resolve. "If you even think about coming after me, I swear I will kill you."

"You're serious about this?" Kenneth hollered.

"You want to find out?" Ryoko asked, before lowering the pistol. "Oh, and one more thing. You tell anyone I'm gone, I squash you with the Noir's fist."

And with that message delivered, the Strike Noir took off into the air, almost disappearing into the darkness as it moved off of Onogoro toward the Orb mainland. Deep inside herself, Ryoko knew she would likely pay for this later, assuming she lived to come back to the _Odyssey_, but for the moment she concentrating on stilling that painful feeling that was growing in the back of her head.

* * *

Mimicking Gabriel's swordplay earlier, Virgil extended the bayonet blade on his right beam composite rifle and with two slashes made an 'X' on the hangar door that the Verde Buster and Blu Duel were facing. However, instead of kicking the door down, he simply 'flicked' it with the Buster's left hand manipulator and the whole thing came falling down all the same. "We lead a charmed life, don't we?"

"Heh." Gabriel smirked from where he was. "Crappy food, little pay, shifting job locations, people wanting to kill us… Who wouldn't want this life?"  
_  
_Virgil chuckled lightly at that response. The two Gundams then entered the darkness and began searching the building for any scraps or salvage. Naturally like several other buildings that they had looked at, there was a large amount of bounty in the hangar; weapons and mechanical parts lying around in different areas, left over from not too long ago. However, at the same time, this hangar had something different contained within it.

"I'll be damned." Gabriel muttered as his screen was filled with a line of red and white mobile suits. "Are these what I think they are…?"

"MVF-M11C Murasames." Virgil concluded as he scanned over the technical data that was punched up over his monitor. "All in working condition it seems. I guess their pilots were killed before they could have been deployed to fight."

"We could make more than a shiny penny with just one of these." Gabriel said suggestively. At the time said that, he had the Blu Duel march up to one of the dormant mobile suits at face-to-face distance, so that he could stare at the dimmed green dual optic sensors that were all too similar to his Gundam's. "Especially how Orb mobile suits are hard to come by these days."

"Unfortunately, there's no way we can fit them onto the _Odyssey_. Just look for parts or stuff we could use." Virgil stated.

"Yeah, sure." Gabriel said with dejection. Another thought came to his mind though. "How hard do you think those poor bastards fought?"

Virgil stopped the Verde Buster in its tracks at that question, as a frown came over his face. "I imagine to the very end. Orb soldiers were infamous for that."

"Big fucking waste." Gabriel said with an uncommon solemn tone to him. "This might have been a haven for coordinator scum, but I don't think anything deserves to be wiped out like that."

The older pilot peered at his partner. "Would you feel the same way if they were _all_ coordinators?"

Gabriel cast a dirty glare. "No comment."

Virgil smiled at that. "It's alright to admit you don't like genocide Gabriel, no matter who's or what's being killed off."

"Yeah, well, some people actually deserve to be wiped out. Not here, but they do exist." Gabriel retorted.

The words burrowed into Virgil's brain, and he found himself recalling the dream he had back in Australia. He remembered how both sides of that particular conflict used similar words and justifications to exterminate the other side with weapons of mass destruction. And he especially knew all that came off of that was more wanton bloodshed than there had ever been in the previous ages. _You're right Gabriel, some people do actually deserve to be wiped off the map. You just don't know how right you are._

"Hey Virgil, look at this." Gabriel called out to him from another corner of the hangar with some traces of excitement in his tone.

Quickly, Virgil moved the Verde Buster toward the Blu Duel's location, and immediately found why Gabriel had called him over. The young pilot had found another inactive mobile suit, but it didn't look like any Virgil had seen before.

It was definitely an Astray type, but instead of the usual red and white armor, it was primarily gold with black mixed in. As well, it was far different from the usual Astray chassis; while the gold parts of its armor were of standard make, the black portions were angular and sharp, much like ancient stealth fighter designs. Its backpack held a curious pair of wings, its right arm, which was a different one from the standard Astray arm to the left, held a large shield that contained a beam rifle and three lancer darts, while the left arm had a wrist mounted claw and the hips held two solid blades at either side. To top it all off though, its headpiece, instead of containing the standard V-fin, had extra black armor around it with a ZAFT style mono-eye camera mounted on the forehead. All in all, Virgil found that the suit looked more like it was cobbled together from two completely different mobile suit designs rather than one singular one.

"Just what is it? I've never seen an Astray built like this before." Gabriel said, having the Blu Duel walk around the mobile suit to get a full view.

"It's definitely a custom model." Virgil said. And as if a wave of familiarity washed over his brain, he suddenly remembered where he had seen that right arm assembly from.

_That's the right arm from the old GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam. When did Orb get a hold of something like that…?_ Virgil thought. But then thinking back, he remembered there was an Orb noble who fancied himself or herself as one of Orb's protectors, flying around in a gold mobile suit and appearing in one battle after another, then disappearing just as quickly. The Buster pilot couldn't quite remember which noble it was, but this unit did fit the profile of the mobile suit in question.

"You still think we can't fit one more mobile suit on the _Odyssey_?" Gabriel asked earnestly.

Virgil shook his head. "She can only hold six mobile suits. You know that Gabriel."

"We can't just leave this here though. Imagine the money we'd make off of it." Gabriel stated.

"What do you want to do Gabriel, strap it to the hull? Ian's going love that." Virgil said, thinking. "On the other hand, I'm sure someone out there would want a fancy suit like this for themselves. We'll just contact the Junk Guild when we reach North America and have them come out here."

"Ugh." Gabriel said with a disgusted look. "That means we have to deal with that old bastard Lowe again. You know how much I hate that."

"That actually works in our favor…" Virgil said. "Since only he would be crazy enough to come all the way out here. And since it's clearly an Astray, I'm sure he'd be willing to pay through his nose for the info."

"Fine fine, whatever." Gabriel said, also thinking. "Here's a funny question. If it's such a high powered model, why didn't it go out there to fight like the others did?"

Virgil stared back at the gold mobile suit on that, shrugging. "Don't know, but I guess its pilot was either killed like the others before it could go or the guy was just recalled for whatever reason. Either way, it's a mystery we'll probably never figure out."

The Blu Duel pilot frowned at the lack of a clear answer, before looking back at the mobile suit's face. Even though they were dimmed, its three blue eye cameras shone with an eerie virulence that Gabriel only saw in Gundam type mobile suits…

* * *

_What… What is this place?_

Those were the only words that Ryoko could think of as she found herself staring into what could have been Purgatory itself. She stood before a dead city, littered with ruined buildings and debris, all discolored and fragmented as if the very life they once held had been stripped away from them; a total contrast to the buildings on Onogoro that while without life still remained standing. Above her the sky sounded with thunderclaps and lightning, and the ghostly wind that had been existent since she had set foot in this land was starting to increase its speed. All of it came together to signify one word and one word only: lifeless.

With a greater hesitance than she had ever felt before, Ryoko had the Noir begin to walk down what was once a street for this city, her blue eyes sweeping around her two hundred seventy degree monitor for anything that was out of the ordinary here. She found nothing, but that didn't mean the place was totally deserted. Her sensors weren't helping matters though; the radiation level here was quite high as she had found, and her radar was all but inoperable because of it. Ryoko shuttered to think that if it weren't for the armored hide her mobile suit provided, she would have been dead on the spot, it was that contaminated.

As she journeyed deeper into the ruins, Ryoko couldn't help but wonder if the poet Dante Alighieri had a similar experience when he crossed through Hell; her grandfather had been a fan for _The Divine Comedy_ and used to read it to her when she was old enough, and while Ryoko had never been fond of poetry, it still came to mind. The feelings in the back of her head grew more intense with each metallic footstep that sounded, along with the thunderclaps that sounded above. Everything felt hostile to her, but the strange feelings within Ryoko's mind kept her from turning back and flying toward Onogoro. It was as if this place were both repelling her and drawing her further.

"Damn it…" Ryoko grit her teeth in agony as she felt another flash envelope her mind. As she stared out to the ruins amidst the pain, lightning flashed, and for a few brief seconds the scene transformed before Ryoko. For little more than a moment, the sky had turned blue, the buildings had turned whole again and with color to them, and she saw people walking down the sidewalks and streets. The scene would last and then fade back into the present ruins until another shot of lighting repeated the whole process.

"Why do I feel like this…?" Ryoko admonished to whatever force was out there, holding her head with her hands. "Why does everything feel… familiar…?"

The only answer she heard to her question was silence, and her head continued to throb as images entered her mind's eye. Once more, she saw the city as it once was, a haven for life and peace. She then saw people gathered over a table looking down, as if they were looking at her. She saw various silhouettes come in and out, shadows that she could see in form but not detail; a blonde woman, a brown haired man, a blue haired man, another brown haired men, a familiar pink-haired woman, and a sickly woman with black hair among them. But then the last one she picked up on; a man with grey hair and a noticably stern face.

Her eyes flashed open with realization. _Was that…_ Ojii-sama_!?_ Her teeth gritted together once more as the images continue to flow. "Just what exactly is this!!" she screamed to the open air.

On the outside, the Strike Noir stood silent as its pilot struggled, its yellow eyes still shining through the darkness. But even those eyes didn't see the shadows that were lurking all around it…

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…

**Author's Note: **Apologies for the largely uneventful chapter; rest assured there will be action soon enough.


	11. Phase 10: Ghosts and Angels

"_He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.__"_  
- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzche

**Phase 10: Ghosts and Angels**

**Uzumi City Ruins – Orb Mainland  
May 16th, CE 101**

Another thunderclap sounded through the air, signaling the growing fury of the storm along with the wind's great howl. Ryoko knew she didn't have long, but at the same time her head was still spinning from the images that flashed before her, and she still didn't have her answers. In fact, she had come here thinking that there would be some kind of explanation, but all she found was more unanswered questions inside her.

Many a time did she yell out her questions to the open air, but each time only the sounds of thunder and the flashes of lightning answered her, not that she was expecting someone or something to just give her an explanation like that. At last managing to calm herself down after sometime, as well as making the images stop running through her head, she had the Noir press forward and continue to scan over the desolate ruins, with nothing escaping its gaze. If the celestials chose not to answer her questions, then she was going to figure them out herself, and this ruined city was a good place to start looking for said answers.

By now she had come to what looked like the center of the city if the remaining buildings were any indication. Ryoko found it strange how this particular area didn't seem too damaged; sure, everything was in ruins, but the buildings were largely intact despite being rocked over by a nuclear blast some time ago, and the streets didn't seem to be affected either. She noticed that one of the buildings had a large television screen on it, cracked and shattered in a million places, but still intact. Judging by the architecture, it was a government building of sorts, perhaps the meeting place for the five ruling families that ran Orb. Ryoko would have loved to get out and check the building on the inside, but she knew she would need a radiation suit for that to happen.

Again, she found herself wondering just what force came and attacked Orb. Was it even a military power from this planet? Or could it have been something beyond normal understanding? Sure, any established Earth nation had the ability to use nuclear weapons, even after the destruction of the Alliance, but the more Ryoko looked around the more she saw that there really was an actual battle and that the nuclear attack likely came during or after the fact. If it actually was the Atlantic Federation or someone along that line, then why did they bother with an actual invasion force rather than just nuking the island from the beginning?

Of course, it also bothered her how anyone could fight against the vaunted Orb Defense Force and still manage to do this kind of damage. She could only imagine how powerful the attackers would have been if they could have gone up against the legendary Freedom and Justice tag team, along with all the other aces that flew under Orb's flag. That said, Ryoko wondered if Satan himself and his legions were somehow involved in the massacre.

But aside from those ponderings however, Ryoko did not find any of the clues that she was searching for, which she partially expected but was still disappointed. _There's nothing here._ she thought with a scowl.

For no more than a brief second after she thought that, a small blip appeared on her barely functioning radar and a proximity warning sounded. Ryoko had the Noir turn toward the direction of the blip, but she could see nothing on her monitor. She thought she caught a shadow moving about through the ruins, but then she lost it and couldn't find it again.

_What the…?_ she thought, narrowing her gaze. And then, along the sound of a nearby thunderclap, realization entered her mind as she caught sight of a piece of debris falling to the ground behind her.

She was not alone.

* * *

**Morgenroete Ruins - Onogoro Island**

"Looks like the storm's picking up fast." Gabriel's static-broken voice announced as he looked over his sensor readings, his face shown on a small video window on the Verde Buster's side monitor. "We're going to have to pack it in soon Virgil, before we get blown out to sea."

Virgil looked over his own sensors and found himself drawn to the same conclusion, annoying as it was to leave so much treasure lying around. But then they could always gather it up after the storm had past, assuming any of it survived. "Yeah, you're right Gabriel. No sense in sticking around to be gone with the wind." He couldn't help but smile at his little pun. "What's your position now?"

"Just a few meters from yours in one of the hangars. Can't tell where Kurtz and the wonder twins are, or the psycho-bitch for that matter." Gabriel replied a little grimly.

Virgil's eyes narrowed at Gabriel's exclamation. "Now that you mention it, it has been a while since I heard from her too…"

"You think she got lost?" Gabriel inquired.

Rather than answer, Virgil keyed in the frequency for the Strike Noir on his radio. "Verde Buster to Strike Noir, check in please." No answer. "Repeat, Verde Buster to Strike Noir, check in. Ryoko, do you read?"

"Virgil!" Virgil heard the voice of Kenneth Hughes practically scream over the radio channel. At the same time, he caught sight of the elder Hughes' Windam charging down toward the position of the Verde Buster. "We've got a serious problem Virgil! The Nagato chick took off on us!"

Virgil did not like where this was going. "Please tell me she got tired of being out here and went back to the ship Kenneth…"

"Hah, I wouldn't be this panicked if it were that easy." Kenneth exclaimed. He took a gulp of air before he continued with the next line. "It looked she was heading toward the mainland."

"Is she fucking crazy!? Even she should know better than that!" Gabriel admonished. Since Kenneth was communicating over broadband, it was easy for him to listen in.

"I don't get it either! All of a sudden she stopped whatever she was doing and stared at the mountains for a bit, then she took off and flew over them. She was acting and talking weirder than usual too." Kenneth explained hurriedly.

Virgil said nothing to this, as he found himself thinking. _Could she have remembered…?_ His eyes turned to gaze at the mountains behind the installation, where just beyond the Orb mainland lay. _Impossible, she would have been too young at the time. And Aizen was supposed to have taken those secrets to his grave. Just what is going on here…?_

"And just why didn't you try to stop her Kenny?" Gabriel demanded, once again using Kenneth's much hated nickname out of spite.

"Do I look suicidal to you Gabriel!? There's no way I could…" Kenneth stammered haphazardly.

"Enough." Virgil said only once in a tone that was far more serious than usual, which was enough to silence both at once. "How long ago did this happen Kenneth?"

"About ten minutes ago. I swear I would have told you earlier, but she threatened to squash me with the Strike Noir's hand if I did!" Kenneth justified.

"Great, that means she's already on the mainland and out of radio range." Gabriel groaned, knowing what was going to happen next. "Virgil, don't tell me we…"

"…got no choice. You and I are going after her." Virgil finished for Gabriel, then looked back at Kenneth. "Tell Kurtz and your brother to pull back to the _Odyssey_ for the time being. If anyone asks, tell them we went looking for the underground factory site that's supposed to be here."

"What if the Captain asks?" Kenneth wondered.

Virgil thought about that for a moment. "Alright, you can tell him the truth. He'll understand. But no one else, understood?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Good luck with the search and rescue!" Kenneth called out, before turning around and putting his Windam into a run.

Immediately, both Virgil and Gabriel activated the thrusters on their Gundams and began to jet across the ground at high speed. However, even with the mobility of their Gundams, Gabriel was still concerned. "You realize it's going to take a bit of time to get over those mountains Virgil."

"I doubt she'll get too far ahead of us." Virgil replied knowingly, but still found himself frowning on the inside. _I'd better ask May to retune these machines to fly once we get back. We're too limited on the ground._

"And how are we going to find her anyway? The radiation's going to make our sensors all but useless." Gabriel explained. His lips turned up into a sneer. "I swear if we do actually find her, I might shoot her cockpit out just for giving us this much trouble…"

"I hope you're not being literal with that statement Gabriel." Virgil shot back.

Gabriel said nothing at first, instead settling on turning his sneer toward the Verde Buster and holding it for a second or two. "Nevermind that." he simply put, then concentrating back on the heading of his mobile suit.

* * *

Drawing the two "Derringers" from their respective hip mounts, Ryoko had the Noir remain standing where it was despite the great temptation to move away. Although this plan gave her trackers an opening shot at her, at the very least it might be able to draw out her attacker with that said shot; the trick was to dodge it before it did any damage and then counterattack just as quickly. Having the support of her sensors would have given her even less of a disadvantage, but even when the radiation induced static cleared for just the briefest of moments they told her nothing. Perhaps these hunters were using some form of stealth?

_There are at least two of them. That much I know._ Ryoko thought, her eyes shifting from one side of her monitor to the other. Unlike her radar, infared and sonar, which were all distorted by the aforementioned radiation, her optical sensors were functioning properly, but even with their night mode activated, the darkness caused by the storm limited them greatly.

One of the few things working for her in this situation was she had been here before, to some degree. There had been one occasion like this back when she was trying to make ends meet in the middle of the Australian Outback. She had been tracking a group of raiders that had intercepted a convoy carrying vital medical supplies for the little town of Stirling. Alone and in an almost ancient Strike Dagger, she tracked them to their canyon hideout in Barossa Valley, where somehow along the line they had detected her and set up an ambush for her on the surrounding cliffs.

Needless to say, it had taken nothing less than Ryoko's great piloting skill to have gotten out of that melee alive, especially since one of the raiders was using a monstrous GOUF Ignited left over from when ZAFT had been running things on the continent. She ended up losing the Strike Dagger not long after that too from the battle damage; in fact, it practically fell apart after the long walk home. Fortunately for her though, she and her grandfather had found the Strike Noir not long after.

But among other things that situation had given her was the ability to 'sense' her surroundings without her eyes or her hearing. She didn't know what to call it, or whether it was something bizarre like telepathy or if it was just gut instinct or battlefield intuition, but ever since that battle Ryoko had been able to 'see' things occur in her mind that she wouldn't have been able to detect coming with her five standard senses.

That being described, she was able to 'see' that she was surrounded by a group of enemy mobile suits, whose number she could not determine. She could also practically 'hear' one of the enemy pilots wondering aloud "What the fuck is that thing doing? Taking a piss break?" while another one countered with "I say we bag the son of a bitch now and be done with it!"

And she could also 'feel' one of them pull back the trigger.

Immediately her computer rang out a warning on the incoming beam, and Ryoko kicked the Noir into gear, jetting off the ground as the beam hit the spot where she had been standing. A split second later she spun around and brought both "Derringers" to the area where she had 'felt' the beam come from and fired two simultaneous shots. She didn't see her target, but that didn't mean it wasn't there, and even if she missed the target itself, the resulting collapse of the building it had been near would have finished it off anyway.

Two more open fired soon after, trying to catch her in a crossfire, but Ryoko had the Noir lunge forward and in gun kata style aimed the "Derringers" in either direction and open fired. Like before though, she scored no shots, and Ryoko realized that while she could evade their attacks she was still at a huge disadvantage in not being able to land hers. And she was unable to escape either; while she had a chance of surviving the fight, albeit a small one, it would have been nothing less than suicide if she went to a higher altitude, where she'd be swept away by the hurricane.

Going for cover, she charged down the main street, firing random shots in order to buy herself some time. However, she was forced to change her course when she saw a glint of metal streak straight at her. Jumping back, she at first thought the projectile was a "Stiletto" explosive, like the ones that the Blu Duel and the Windams use, but when it impacted, she noticed it didn't explode. Taking a brief glance at it, it looked like someone had thrown or shot a long metal stake at her, as weird as it appeared. She narrowly dodged another pair of those strange darts, this time going airborne but staying low; maybe weaving around the buildings would help her.

* * *

"Now what the fuck is going on!? I thought this place was supposed to be deserted!" snarled Gabriel as the Blu Duel skated across the water surface toward the Orb mainland. In the distance, he could pick up flashes of light through his monitors, obviously from beam weapons exchange.

"I can think of only two choices: ghosts or bad guys." Virgil thought aloud, as the Verde Buster matched speed with its comrade. He frowned in annoyance at the flashes. "But since this is the land of the living, I'm going to assume them to be the latter…"

"Don't know don't care. But I would bet my video game collection that she's somehow involved." Gabriel replied with distaste.

As much as Virgil hated to think about it, he couldn't find any way to disagree with his partner. Knowing that, his grip tightened around the controls. "Move in double time Gabriel. At this rate we'll miss the show."

Immediately, both mobile suits doubled their speed and shot across faster than any other kind of mobile suit could.

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Onogoro Island**

"Is that all?" Lee finally spoke after what had seemed like a while, eyes narrowed into an inquisitive glance. He had just listened to Kenneth Hughes' report on the recent turn of events.

It took a moment for Kenneth to gain enough composure inside him to speak up. "Just one more thing sir: Virgil and Gabriel took off after her. I haven't heard from them since, but he said you would understand."

Lee nodded, but deep in the back in his mind he felt some disturbance at how he had missed this variable before. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes at that frustration. _I can't believe I forgot about Ryoko entirely when I ordered us to Onogoro. _He then looked back up at Kenneth and waved him off. "Alright, that's all I needed to know. You're dismissed."

"Ah, right." Kenneth acknowledged, quickly turning to head out the door. However, once he reached it, the door slid open to reveal Lynsie Schneider, who nearly jumped in surprise at the sight of the elder Hughes brother standing there. Kenneth smiled an ugly, toothy mimicry of Virgil's grin at her. "Well hello Lyn. I was wondering when you were going to leave the bridge. How about you and me…"

"Not now Hughes." Lyn snapped, hurriedly passing by him while at the same time stamping on his foot with her heel, hard. The thin man yelped in pain, giving Lyn the opportunity to shove him out the door and let it close behind her. After a few muttered curses, the sounds of Hughes' boots thumping away came through.

With that out of the way, Lyn came up to Lee's desk and handed over the datapad she had been carrying. "This is the inventory of what our mobile suits found out there sir."

Lee looked up at her with some confusion. "Shouldn't May be delivering this Lyn?"

"She forwards her apologies, but she's having some problems with her mechanics and asked me to go in her place." Lyn explained.

The look on Lee's face spoke much of his belief in that explanation. "Or you ordered her transmit the data to the bridge computer terminal so you could make the delivery yourself."

Lyn opened her mouth to respond, but she closed it when she couldn't find one, instead rolling her eyes in mild embarrassment. "With all due respect sir, I was just worried about you. You haven't left your office ever since we came here, which is unusual in the least."

The captain leaned forward at that. "Well, as you can see I am fine. I just do not feel I should be out there right now."

"On the bridge sir, or do you mean our current location in general?" Lyn inquired.

Lee allowed himself to frown at that. "The last time I was here, Lynsie, was over fifteen years ago. Back then it was full of life and beauty, and there were people here who I had considered family. Maybe I'm being a coward, but even in this cave, I don't want to see Orb any other way than I remember."

A moment of silence past between them before Lyn answered. "I think I can understand that sir."

Lee gave her a single nod. "Don't worry about it. Is there anything else you wanted?"

"No sir." Lyn quickly replied.

"Oh, so there is." Lee noticed. "You should know better than to lie to your captain Lynsie."

Lyn sighed; she had been hoping that the aforementioned captain wouldn't have seen through her. "I just want to know sir…" she started. "What really destroyed Orb?"

"Hmm?" Lee looked up with a more serious expression. "What makes you think I know?"

"Because you know, sir." Lyn answered straight forward. "You, Virgil and Doctor Winter do, that much I can summarize. But I know better than to ask the other two."

Lee shook his head. "Heh, I suppose so." He replied. "Yes, I can answer your question Lynsie, but I wonder, would you believe me?"

"Sir, again with due respect, I am your second-in-command and I also consider myself your friend. I know I am not as close to you as Virgil or Doctor Winter are, for obvious reasons, but I'd like to think I know you well enough that I know when to take what you say seriously and when not to." Lyn stated.

Lee took the moment to analyze her, from her gaze to the determination that was emanating from her. It was clear that she really wanted to know the truth, but Lee still wasn't sure if she'd believe it. However, he doubted she would back off the subject unless he ordered her to, which he would not do. "Very well Lynsie."

The green-haired XO took a seat on the nearby couch, awaiting the Captain's explanation. After she got comfortable, Lee finally answered. "I trust you are aware of the stories surrounding this place, the one that speaks of 'angels' reigning 'judgment' upon the land and some such."

"That folk tale?" Lyn had to hold herself back from glaring at Lee, as despite what she said earlier she couldn't help but feel the captain was not answering her seriously. "That so-called explanation was made entirely up by drunkards and religious fanatics! Surely you're not telling me…"

"It couldn't be closer to the truth Lyn." Lee answered, cutting her off in midsentence. "What you see out there was indeed done by angels, just not the kind you're used to."

Lyn was still not quite sure. "I don't follow sir."

The captain leaned forward on his desk and made sure his gaze met hers. "When I say 'angels', you and everyone else automatically think of winged celestial beings created by God to carry out his will over Heaven and Earth. However, these particular angels, which there are nine of, are quite different: instead of being created by God, they were created by men, and rather than answer up to His Will, they only answer to their own. They are anything but heavenly beings, yet they think of themselves as nothing short.

"Throughout this entire age, no, perhaps even beyond that, they have existed." Lee continued. There was a noticeable bit of what could only be 'hate' welling up in his voice. "From their domain, they manipulate this world and its people like Fate itself, utilizing causality as if it were just another tool in their trade. It was from _their_ handiwork that Orb and everything that made it, like its people, its culture and its ideals, were ripped from the land, but don't think it was the only travesty they committed. Almost every disaster and cataclysmic event in history can be traced back to their so-called Will, along with the countless innocents that were lost along the way."

Again, Lee took a moment to analyze Lyn. It was clear to him that she didn't believe him; she wanted to, if only because she trusted him with her life and nothing less, but the logical portion of her brain was still wrestling with Lee's words. Lee sighed inwardly at that, but he had not expected anything more. "You may not believe me Lynsie, but that is the only truth that exists. In time perhaps, maybe you will come to see that as such."

Lyn blinked. "What's that supposed to mean, sir?"

"Sorry, that one I will not answer quite yet, but you'll understand soon enough." Lee said. "Now tell me, was that the explanation you were expecting?"

Lyn hesitated before she could answer. "No sir, it wasn't. But I suppose it's better that it came from you rather than anyone else."

"Hm." Lee nodded, pushing up his glasses the way Winter did. "Very well then. You may return to your duties Lyn."

The captain purposely waited for Lyn to turn around and start back for the door before he spoke up again. "One more thing." Lyn stopped. "What I told you is confidential. You are not to utter it to any other human being that is on this ship or off it. Is that clear Lynsie?"

One could almost visibly see Lyn groan out loud, still wondering if Captain Lee was being serious or if he was simply antagonizing her. "What about Virgil and Doctor Winter…?"

"You can bring it up to them, but don't expect them to answer. Just as you thought before." Lee said.

"…I'll keep that in mind sir. Thank you for your time." was all Lynsie Schneider said before exiting, leaving Captain Lee once again alone in his office.

* * *

_Just what am I fighting here!?_

The world shook as another neon beam fired from seemingly nowhere blasted into the ground where the Strike Noir would have been standing had Ryoko not been moving. Ryoko swung her machine around, side dashing to dodge another blast, and then fired back toward that direction with her beam pistols. But her own shots hit the side of a building and nothing more.

Ryoko cried out when one of the blasts actually slammed into her suit's back; the VPS armor limited the damage but it was still enough for the Noir's computer to send a warning. She knew she couldn't keep this up; eventually these _things_, for lack of better description, would either corner her and finish her off or her suit would run out of energy and she would end up undefended. And no matter how many times she had fired back at whatever was shooting at her, she had not hit a single target, at best only keeping them at a distance. Either way, if something didn't happen soon, she was dead.

_This must be what fighting ghosts feels like._ Ryoko scowled once more, trying her best to come up with a solution that would save her ass. If she could only take to the sky and fly back to Onogoro…

Then for the first time in the entire fight, her sensors beeped a warning as a pair of mobile suits were detected, through the static, closing from the distance. At first Ryoko took them as new enemies, but after the static on her display cleared so that her eyes could read the data, she realized that the two incoming were the Verde Buster and Blu Duel.

"Hey bitch… Do you copy?" Gabriel's voice echoed through the radio.

Ryoko couldn't tell if she was annoyed or relieved she was to hear that voice. "I'm being pinned down. Could use some assistance!" she practically howled as she again fired back at whatever was shooting at her.

A few moments later, she saw the two Gundams enter the area, weapons ready. That seemed to stop the fighting for the moment, as no other shot was fired from the shadows. It was best to assume that the enemy was regrouping, not apparently sure how to deal with these two new intruders, but only for the moment.

"Hey Ryoko. Been having fun without us?" Virgil chided as he brought the Verde Buster next to the Strike Noir. Up close, he could see the various scratches and smudges that were over the Strike Noir's armor.

"More than I wanted." Ryoko admitted in her heavy breathing.

"Just who did you piss off this time!?" Gabriel snapped, the Blu Duel's head shifting in every direction to try and find a target.

"I don't know! I made no provocation." Ryoko barked back to Gabriel out of annoyance, but more at the whole situation than Gabriel himself. "I haven't even seen them; I think they're using active stealth."

Gabriel looked up at the mention of 'stealth', then had the Blu Duel turn toward the Verde Buster. "Hey Virgil, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Got to be Mirage Colloid." Virgil agreed.

"What?" Ryoko wondered out loud.

"It's a device that generates a special reflective particle that bends light. Basically turns things invisible to both sensors and the naked eye." Virgil explained, having the Verde Buster march a little away from the other two, still scanning around. "However, the catch is a Mirage Colloid drains a lot of power, makes you invisible to your allies as well and it's not impervious to _every_ kind of detection method."

Upon that mention, the Verde Buster's red faceguard folded up and onto its forehead, while a strange green eyepiece folded out from the side and over the right camera eye. At the same time, data began to enter into Virgil's sensor display, which didn't seem to be affected by the radiation. Red specks soon appeared on the display.

This was one of the Verde Buster's special features, the Special Weapons Targeting Sensor or SWTS. It was a high powered sensor unit that could detect targets more precisely than a standard radar system, and even stealth designed units like MC-equipped suits were not able to hide from it, but only over a short detection range. Plus, it could be used in coordination with the Verde Buster's weapons to increase their accuracy tremendously.

"Well well, looks like a group of Assassin Windams." Virgil said with a smile at guessing right. "This could be tricky even if we do know where they are."

Developed toward the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, the GAT-04+AQM/E-W9R2 Assassin Windam was to be the Earth Alliance's mainstay stealth attack mobile suit, and it had been all the way to the EA's fragmentation. Though basically a standard Windam equipped with special equipment, the back mounted Assassin striker came with additional fin like thrusters, similar to the kind used on the original Blitz Gundam, as well as a built in Mirage Colloid. Also, Assassin Windams used the same "Trikeros" shield as that particular prototype on it right arm, and were also equipped with the "Hakenfaust" rocket anchor on its left. Fortunately, though it was meant to replace the special forces N Dagger N, it wasn't equipped with a nuclear reactor like that unit was.

That all taken in, Virgil knew that even one of these mobile suits was not to be taken lightly, and unless the radiation was affecting his sensors, there were at least fourteen of them in the general area. And those were only the ones that were within range; Virgil wouldn't have been surprised if there were more of them.

"Ryoko, you have two hiding in that ruined building at your right. When I give the signal, both you and Gabriel turn and level them." Virgil ordered.

"What are you planning Virgil?" Ryoko asked.

"I'm going to shoot another one. If this works, they'll realize we can detect them and so have no choice but to attack us directly, without their Colloids. But we have to make it apparent to them for that." Virgil continued to explain.

Deciding to be dramatic, Virgil picked one of the Windams that was hiding on the opposite side of a building. He switched over to the left shoulder mounted "Jaeger" beam cannon and then dropped his crosshairs on the spot where his target was standing, even though the building was between them. "Who ya gonna call?" Virgil exclaimed with a smirk, before hitting the trigger.

Instantly, a beam shot out from the Verde Buster's left shoulder mounted beam cannon, flew straight into the building that was between it and the target, and then out the other side where it blasted through the opposing mobile suit's center torso, dividing the top half from the bottom half before both ends exploded. Virgil wasn't able to see the explosion himself, but he heard it and the mobile suit's sensor silhouette faded off from the display in response. At the same time, Gabriel and Ryoko fired their own beam pistol shots into the nearby building Virgil pointed out, destroying their own targets.

Seeing that their main advantage had been compromised, the enemy did just as Virgil said they would, dropping their Mirage Colloids one by one and moving out in the open. Ryoko stared in aghast as she saw the group of black and green painted mobile suits leap out from their hiding places and onto the street like giant mechanical ninjas, but she was aware enough that she saw one of them level its "Trikeros" shield mounted beam gun at her and Gabriel. The two immediately jumped away before the shot landed, and Virgil likewise was forced to move when another one shot a trio of lancer darts at his machine.

"Finally, we can fight them in the open." Ryoko observed with excitement as she quickly aimed her "Derringers" and shot back at the Assassin Windams. The enemy machines raised their shields, faster than even Ryoko had expected, and deflected the shots while the ones that she hadn't been aiming for leaped forward with their shield beam sabers ignited.

Ryoko jumped away and attempted to switch her beam pistols out for her "Fragarach" beam blades, but the Windams were too fast and soon closed the gap between them and the Noir.

However, much to her surprise and shock, Ryoko watched as the Blu Duel jumped in front of her machine with its own beam sabers ignited, parrying both Windams. "You're too slow, idiot!" he blurted out as he clashed both blades between the two.

Despite the effort Gabriel gave however, the two Windams were faster with their blades and they quickly placed the Blu Duel pilot on the defensive. He attempted to take one out by making a railgun shot from his "Scorpion", but the target Windam quickly leaped over the shot and made a solid kick against the Blu Duel's head. Gabriel gritted his teeth as he felt his suit get rocked back.

However, just as the Blu Duel stumbled back, a third Windam entered out of the shadows with its beam saber raised, jetting out for the Gundam's exposed torso. It would definitely have slashed the Blu Duel open at the side, had Ryoko not leaped out and fired scattering beam shots that made the Assassin Windam move back from its attack.

"Now who's moving slow?" Ryoko couldn't help but shoot back at Gabriel. She didn't have time to look, but she could tell that Gabriel leered at her in response. She attempted to finish off her target Windam, but the machine leaped back and reactivated its Mirage Colloid, disappearing in the shadows once more. "Damn it, they're fast!"

"Keep your focus you two." Virgil ordered. He noticed what Ryoko had just said however, but he didn't say anything as he was two focused on trying to kill the two Windams that had appeared in front of him. With an almost predatory ferocity, the two Windams moved into the attack like a pair of wolves, closing the gap faster than Virgil was able to shoot them, while slashing their beam sabers at the Verde Buster. Virgil had to extend both of his bayonet blades to hold them off. "There should be eleven more of these things. Keep that in mind!"

The Strike Noir joined the Blu Duel and Verde Buster in the melee by replacing one of its beam pistols with a "Fragarach" blade, but even Ryoko was having a hard time beating back the enemy. The Windams were moving fast in an attempt to surround the Gundams, and it didn't help when the other missing five leaped out from a nearby building and joined the melee. Almost outnumbered three to one and about to be overwhelmed, Ryoko spun the Noir around and let loose the volley of beam shots from her "Derringer" beam pistol, forcing the Windams to scatter, although the blasts managed to catch and destroy two of them. "Two down!"

"Good." Virgil replied as he leveled both beam rifles and fired twin shots. One of his targets managed to evade the shot by thruster jumping to the side, but the other one wasn't so lucky and caught a green burst of energy straight through its chest. Its internal battery detonated not long later. "Three down, eight to go."

"Will these bastards go down already!!" Gabriel roared as he slashed and hacked at his adversaries to scatter them further. Thinking fast, he replaced his left side beam saber and folded down the "Walther" beam pistol, firing a spray of beam shots that again forced two of the Windams to hide behind their shields, unable to outright avoid the fire. Seeing the opportunity, Gabriel charged at them and slashed a large horizontal slash that would have and should have split them at the hips. However, both mobile suits managed to back off in time and only suffered damaging gashes to their shields.

_These aren't run of the mill marauders like we've been fighting._ Ryoko thought as she cut off the "Hakenfaust" that had latched onto her left arm. She quickly raised her right beam blade in time to parry another slash at her. Gritting her teeth, she held the blade in place, trying to overcome the opposing Windam through the raw strength of her machine. However, the Windam knocked her sword away and knocked the Strike Noir back, firing one of its lancer darts in the process. Ryoko just barely managed to avoid it and replied in return with a barrage from her CIWS. _The way they move is different…_

Beside her, the Blu Duel rocketed up into the air to avoid an incoming "Stiletto", only for a beam shot to impact on its leg, knocking the Gundam off balance and causing it to fall on its back. Sensing a moment of weakness, one of the Assassin Windams burst up at the fallen Duel, beam saber poised to impale it straight down the middle, but before it could do that, Gabriel activated his back rocket thrusters and made the Gundam rise up. He then shoulder tackled the Windam while at the same time pumped three shots from his beam gun into its cockpit, flying back just as the Windam exploded.

"Four." He said off-handedly, just as one of the remaining seven Windams came flying at him with its own saber raised. He raised his shield to deflect the blow, but the Windam pressed forward with its rockets and pushed back against the Blu Duel.

On the other end, Virgil parried another slash at his cockpit with his bayonets, even as the Windam he was fighting went into a flurry of slashes. _Where the hell is Ed when you need him the most? _he thought as deflected another attack and then made a slash of his own, which was easily absorbed by the Windam's shield. Virgil then watched as another pair of Windams sprinted in on either side of him to come to their comrade's aid, firing their lancer darts to catch the Verde Buster in a crossfire. Quickly, he kicked on his ground thrusters and made the Verde Buster skate backwards from the lancer darts, then quickly taking aim with his beam rifles and firing. Virgil had expected to catch both Windams with back shots, so it surprised him when he saw both of them spin around so fast that they were literally blurs, with one managing to deflect the beam rifle shot with its shield while the other tried to outmaneuver it, but ended up losing its right arm in the process.

Virgil raised an eyebrow at that. _The only people that can move that fast are aces and Alliances special forces. Could they be…?_

His thoughts were interrupted when the one missing an arm launched a "Hakenfaust" at him, which Virgil deftly avoided by skirting to the side. He then countered by firing another shot, this one nailing the Windam in the cockpit and destroying the enemy machine. That made him smile, even as he had to skate back further to avoid beam shots from the other two. _Whether they're marauders, soldiers or ghosts, cannon fodder is cannon fodder. _"Five."

"That means two of these things for each of us." Ryoko muttered outloud as she deflected blows from the two Windams that were attacking her with her "Fragarachs". She pushed forward and slashed and hacked at each of the Windams, moving off one for a moment one for a moment to concentrate her fury on the other then switching back. However, while their defenses wavered during each of her attacks, she still couldn't deliver the killing blow to either of her opponents. Knowing this, she jumped into the air took low level flight as another clash of thunder and lightning echoed above her, with the Windams giving chase not far behind. _We'll be at this all night. These guys are just that good. _she thought, gritting her teeth in frustration.

That was when she remembered the Noir's main advantage. "Virgil, Gabriel. When I say so, move back as fast as you can."

"Huh?" Gabriel admonished as he fired a railgun shot that ended up getting deflected by his target Windam, although the shot did knock it back greatly. "What the hell are _you_ going to do…?"

"Not now Gabriel." Virgil replied sharply while he fired more shots at his own pair of targets. "Say 'when' Ryoko."

"Roger." Ryoko said, as she had the Noir gain more altitude. It was risky, as the winds had really picked up now, but she went further into the sky, with the Assassin Windams giving chase. She wasn't sure if those striker packs gave them flight capability, but it wouldn't matter in a second.

When she reached the appropriate altitude, she switched over to the Noir's "Huckebein" beam cannons, which folded over the Gundam's wings, then yelled out. "Now!"

A moment later, a pair of wide neon green bursts of energy streaked down from the sky, vaporizing her pursuers before impacting on the Earth below, where they destroyed another enemy, one of Gabriel's attackers. The other three managed to avoid the blast before it slammed, but two of them were quickly gunned down by Virgil using both of his shoulder cannons.

The remaining one, seeing now it was up against three Gundam type mobile suits alone, tried to activate its Mirage Colloid and escape, but Gabriel had the Blu Duel fly up and slash the Windam at the legs before that could happen. Now back against the ground, Gabriel stamped his Gundam's foot over the mobile suit's chest, he then reversed the grip on his beam saber with the blade pointing downward, eerily hovering over the cockpit area.

"Say goodnight asshole!" he howled as he impaled the mobile suit for the final time, then jetted back just as it exploded.

* * *

"Did we get them all?" Ryoko breathed as she lowered the Strike Noir back to ground level. Despite having asked that question, she kept her Gundam's weapons active and the hand manipulators close to the beam pistols, ready to draw them again at a moment's notice. There could always have been more where those came from.

Coming down to the Verde Buster, she saw the tan and green mobile suit's head turn over the landscape, as if the suit itself were trying to see if there was anything else out there. "I'd say we did." Virgil replied, shrugging. "I'm not detecting anything else here besides ruins and scraps. We should head back to the ship."

The Verde Buster turned around at that and started to march away. However, he stopped when he noticed that the Strike Noir wasn't following him. "Something wrong with your mobile suit Ryoko? We got to get back before the storm hits."

"I know. It's just…" Ryoko spurted, trying her best to find the right words to say in spite of her jumbled up emotions. Taking a deep breath, she finally answered. "…I'm sorry."

"Hm?" Virgil had the Verde Buster's head turn back to face the black Gundam.

"Yes, you heard right. I'm sorry for forcing you to come out here just to find me." Ryoko admitted, now getting flustered. "For what it's worth, I didn't want to bring this kind of trouble on you or Gabriel."

"Heh." Virgil let out, sounding rather amused at seeing the coordinator like this. "Although I will be wanting to hear _why_ you came here in the first place, I didn't consider it too much trouble. Just don't do it again." He turned back to where he was going. "Now let's get Gabriel and… Well, speak of the devil."

At that moment, the Blu Duel came marching up from where it had finished off its last opponent. Just like the other two Gundams, its armor was blotched with burn marks and a dent or two, but otherwise it seemed to be working perfectly. However, the way it stalked out from the shadows combined with the fact its pilot wasn't saying anything to his comrades gave one the feeling that something was off here.

Concerned, Virgil was the one who asked first. "Hey Gabriel, you still alive over there?"

Ignoring that question, the Blu Duel turned toward the Strike Noir, flashing its green camera eyes as it did. Before Ryoko realized what was happening, the mobile suit swiftly reached to its left shoulder housing, withdrew a single "Stiletto", and threw it straight at the Noir. Ryoko's eyes widened as she saw the blade come shooting at her, aiming to take off her Gundam's head with a single blow.

Only it didn't.

The "Stiletto" streaked past the Noir's head, barely missing it by centimeters, and instead exploded against a different target. Ryoko and Virgil both turned around to just see another Assassin Windam appear, its Mirage Colloid disabled by the explosion and its head vaporized. The enemy mobile suit stumbled back a little bit before it landed on its back against the ground, disabled and out of the fight.

"Shit!" Ryoko yelled, looking back at Virgil in fury. She immediately drew her beam pistol and aimed at the headless mobile suit to keep it from getting up. "Where the hell did he come from!?"

"My apologies. I only saw the shadow move for a split second." Gabriel replied dryly, moving over toward the Windam and aiming his own beam gun at it. He could tell Ryoko was glaring at him through the monitor, but he ignored it. "I didn't have time to warn you."

Ryoko opened her mouth to verbally tear the natural a new one, but when it dawned on her that the boy who made it a point to hate her for what she was just saved her life, she closed it and turned to an expression of puzzlement. That was the second time he came to defend her, the first during the battle itself. _Why…?_ She thought.

Meanwhile, Virgil came over to the fallen mobile suit, moving between the Noir and the Duel as he did. He then picked up his right "Gewehr" composite beam rifle and extended the bayonet blade, which he pointed down over the mobile suit's cockpit. That done, he began to speak over the Gundam's external megaphone. "Alright, we'll start with the basics. Tell us who you are and why you attacked us like that, and we might just let you leave here alive."

There was no answer. In fact, the mobile suit didn't even twitch.

It took only a moment after he had spoken for Virgil to realize why. "Ah shit… Withdraw, now!"

Knowing better than to ask why, Gabriel and Ryoko followed their respected comrade's lead and flew away from the disabled Windam in different directions. Sure enough, the Windam started to glow in the darkness, before it exploded with a thunderous clap that rivaled the storm above.

Ryoko was the first to look back to where the Windam had been, now only a small crater in its place. "_Kamikaze…_ That guy was serious…"

Gabriel, on the other hand, looked toward Virgil in confusion. "How did you know he was going to do that?"

"When he didn't answer my question with any kind of retort." Virgil replied, with a dead serious expression over his face. "We were lucky; he made it obvious. Had that been a second later we all would have been in trouble."

"Jesus…" Gabriel swore as he looked back at the crater. "Ambush tactics. Unmarked stealth equipped mobile suits. Skilled pilots willing to blow themselves up instead of being interrogated… Just what were we fighting out here?"

"I don't know." Ryoko answered. Her voice was eerily even. "But whatever they were, they were definitely a cut above what we usually fight. I hope for our sake we don't run into things like this again."

Neither Virgil nor Gabriel said anything to that, although Virgil looked a little more disturbed than the other two. He already had an idea of what they had just fought against, but he didn't want to believe it himself. Putting aside that thought, he focused on the task at hand.

"Let's get back to the ship."

* * *

**Battleship **_**Odyssey**_** – Onogoro Island  
One Hour Later**

Things had calmed down again, almost to an uncomfortable level to Gabriel. Once again, he found himself on the ship's observation deck collecting his thoughts and just listening to the silence. Even though all he could see from the deck was the inside of the dark, cavern hangar that the _Odyssey_ had placed itself in, Gabriel still felt at ease here, which was what he needed the most after a fight like that.

Ever since that fight had ended, the ship had felt more tense and on edge. The news that there had been another force on Orb besides the _Odyssey_ itself did not go very well with the Captain, and Virgil himself seemed to be disturbed by it too, though either of them tried their best not to show it. At the moment no one else knew about the battle, and the Captain made it a point that none of them were to tell anyone, but that still didn't stop people from feeling that something was wrong, or at least more wrong than before. For better or worse, it was going to be a long three days hidden away in this little cave.

Gabriel had to admit that he felt a little disturbed himself. He could see the image of that enemy pilot, knowing that he was cornered, but all too willing to throw his life away just to take the three of them with him. In Gabriel's lifetime, he had never come across an adversary that would have done something so drastic, aside from the occasional nutjob that had nothing to lose. The Blu Duel pilot tried to think of that pilot as just that, a nutjob, but he just couldn't place him in that category. He wasn't even sure if he could have classified them as Marauders.

The sound of the door opening behind interrupted his thoughts for a moment. He knew who was there, but he chose not to face her right now. Gabriel just didn't feel up to it.

Silently and steadily, Ryoko walked up to where Gabriel was standing and came up right next to him. Gabriel could see that she was feeling on edge like everybody else just from her posture and the dead expression she wore on her face. At the same time, he noticed her mouth opening, as if to ask him a question, but then she closed it before anything could come out.

Sighing, he decided to just cut to the chase. "What do you want now?"

"Nothing." Ryoko snapped back, as she glared at him from the corner of her eye. "I just don't get you. That's all."

"What's not to get?" Gabriel stated back.

"You've made it perfectly clear multiple times that you hate me and would love nothing more than to see me dead." Ryoko said, only now turning to face him. "But then out there… Why did you save my life?"

"Why?" Gabriel answered back, as if he were shocked by the question. "Because you're part of my team."

"But you hate me." Ryoko repeated.

"That doesn't matter, you're still part of my team." Gabriel said, looking at her with disbelief on his face. "Why are you even bringing this up?"

Ryoko raised her left eyebrow. "So basically you saved me because I work with you on the same side?"

"Pretty much." Gabriel replied, sighing again. Fighting back his own hate, he looked at her with an honest-but-stern face. "I'll let you in on a little story of mine. Before I came onboard this ship, I worked with another group of Marauders; no one special, just a bunch of random combat junkies who liked guns and currency. My last job with them took me to the Amazon in South America, where we fought on the behalf of some wannabe warlord who wanted to take over the region."

Gabriel intentionally paused on that to let it sink in. "One day, my group and I walked right into an ambush. Everyone was pinned down, nobody was sure where to shoot at, basically just one big clusterfuck. I and two others ended up getting split off from the group and forced into a clearing for cover…"

"Is there a point to this story or are you just trying to win me over?" Ryoko snidely exclaimed.

"Let me finish." Gabriel said bluntly, then continuing. "The two I was with were bitter enemies. I don't know why they hated each other; maybe they fell in love with the same girl or one stole the other's cookies and milk, I don't know or care. To make a long story short, one of them saw an opportunity in that clusterfuck. When the other guy wasn't looking, the asshole came around and shoved a beam saber through the guy's back."

The boy snarled a little, as if he had to relive that memory. He noticed a look of sympathy from Ryoko, but didn't know whether to accept it or just feel disgusted. So he continued. "The man even laughed as he did it, said the other guy should have been expecting that. I'll tell you, I doubt I will ever get as angry as I did then when I heard him laugh. It pissed me off so much that I gunned the bastard down where he stood."

After saying that, he turned around so that he could lean against the glass viewport. "Not long after I ran out on that group and came across Virgil in the deeper part of the jungle, and after a string of events, that's how I ended up on this ship."

Ryoko said nothing, but she could tell he was telling the truth. "Hm."

Cracking his neck offhandedly, Gabriel returned to his stern expression and looked her deep in the eye. "I told you that story so you would know how perfectly clear I am when I say this: as long as you're on this ship, on this team, you can trust me to watch your back and make sure you survive. Yeah, I hate you. I hate what you are and I hate the fact we breathe the same air, but one of the few things I hate more than your kind are betrayers. Whether you believe me or not, however, is up to you."

He watched as the coordinator eyed him for the moment, trying to pick up any traces of dishonesty on his face and his eyes, but he knew she wouldn't find any because he had said the truth and nothing less. After that moment past, she gave a solemn nod. "Alright, I'll take that to heart."

Without any other words, she turned and began to walk out. However, before she could make it to the door, Gabriel stopped her. "Now it's your turn."

She stopped, and looked back at him.

"Just for the sake of curiosity, why did you go to the mainland in the first place? What exactly were you looking for out there?" Gabriel asked almost demandingly.

At first, Ryoko thought about just ignoring that question, but then decided against that because Gabriel had bared his soul to her already. The least she could do is tell him the truth as well. "Nothing." She answered. "Just thought I saw a ghost or two. Nothing else."

Gabriel looked perplexed at that, but only for a moment. His expression changed back to neutral soon enough, and he turned back to face the window. "I see."

With nothing else, Ryoko casually walked out of the room and left Gabriel alone once again. What she didn't notice on the way out though, was that Gabriel had turned to look back at her as she exited.

* * *

It had been exactly thirty seven minutes and twenty six seconds since Virgil had entered into the _Odyssey_'s mess and asked for a late dinner. In all that time he had not once touched his food or even felt the slightest bit hungry; not that year old macaroni and cheese was appetizing. Instead, it sat in front of the pilot, its cheesy aroma floating into the air like stink off of a pig. At times he would play with it with his dinner fork, but he never once took a bite, neither did he take a drink from the glass of water sitting at the side. His mind was too far elsewhere.

_No doubt those were Earth Alliance Special Forces that we fought against tonight. Or __something like them at the least. _Virgil thought but refused to say aloud as he swished around the macaroni noodles. In his mind's eye could still see the black-and-green colored Assassin Windams, all of which purposely had no markings of any kind, and all of their smooth ninja-style movements and attacks play out. Even the kamikaze attack was an old Alliance SpecOps trick, as those soldiers were trained to avoid capture at all costs and fight to the bitter end. _If it was, then how could they still exist after all this time? Especially when it's been, what, seventeen years after the EA collapsed? It doesn't add up._

It was then he realized the irony of that question, which made him smirk at himself. _Then again, I'm not exactly one to talk in that area…_

So intent was he in his thoughts that he failed to notice Lyn enter in the mess until she walked right past him. However, when he did look at her, Virgil immediately noticed that Lyn was peeved about something; granted, she seemed to always be peeved about something, but this time something was really grating on her nerves. "You look troubled young Schneider…"

"Drop it now." Lyn stated up front before the pilot could finish. She immediately went up to the counter and grabbed a cup of coffee. "I'm not in the mood."

"You never are, but I still like you all the same." Virgil inquired mischievously. He then went back to sitting there thinking and playing with his food, pretending that Lyn hadn't come in at all.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "Just tell me something Virgil…"

He looked back up at her curiously.

"When are you and the Captain really going to cut me in on the loop?" Lyn demanded.

"Loop? What loop?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

When Virgil realized what she meant, his expression turned serious but for a split-second, remembering that little 'chat' between her and the Captain that he had been told about earlier. But before Lyn would have been able to notice, his smile returned and he gave her a look of mock-puzzlement. "I honestly don't have any idea what you mean Lynsie."

Lyn sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Forget it, just forget it." she said before she stormed out of the mess in a fit of frustration.

The Verde Buster pilot watched her leave for a second, then turned back and shook his head. "Women. Can't live with them. Period."

After that was said, he finally took a bite of his macaroni and cheese, instantly gagging.

* * *

_"…Shadow One reporting in. Confirmed Targets Alpha through Charlie: GAT-X1022 Blu Duel, GAT-X103AP Verde Buster and GAT-X105E Strike Noir identified and logged in. Pilot ID also a match on the Verde Buster; it is definitely the Demon of Victoria. Don't know how he survived this long…"  
_  
_"Roger. The entire unit was wiped out. All three appear to be quite powerful. I guess was a good reason for your sending us here..."  
_  
_"Yes, I have located Target Delta: _Ulysses_-class battleship _Odyssey_. It's currently within the _Archangel_ hold of Onogoro Island. I request permission to launch a strike on all targets, with available resources… Very well, I will stand down as ordered."_

_"Also confirmed, the_ Odyssey_'s ultimate destination is the Americas. I've downloaded their navigation database and logs on my mobile suit's computer. I'm quite sure you would love to go over them personally, Your Excellency…"_

_"…Very well. We will return to the mainland immediately. Hopefully there's still a war to fight over there. __Shadow One out."_

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED…


End file.
